Twas the 17th of June
by Potpoury
Summary: CHAPTER 16 UP! Yet another marauder story! Seventh year and beyond, the usual OCs, JamesLily goodness, and much more! Sirius gets the girl but Remus wants her, too... dun dun dun! read and review, please... JPLE SBOC RLOC PPOC
1. Chapter the First

Hello, hello! I was bored over spring break so I decided to write a story!

**A/N: **My computer messed up and to make a long story short, this story got deleted. I figure I'll repost achapter every two to three days until I'm all caught up to Chapter 16, at which point I'll have already finished writing Chapters 17-and-beyond. Sorry if you've already read this stuff, but I figure you can cope.

**Summary:** Lupin notices the date and sits down to reminisce (that's about half a page). Then it's the tale of his 7th year and beyond, complete with new characters, old characters, and one hell of a lot more.

**Disclaimer:** whatever.

**A/N:** If you are in love with Remus Lupin, this story might be a tad disappointing. He gets romance, but no girl who says, "Oh you're a werewolf but I don't care because I'm unrealistic and don't care if you turn into a dangerous monster once a month! We can still be happy together, even if you could kill any children we might have and potentially kill me, too!"

(I like Remus, but I'm also a realist about his lycanthropy.)

Enjoy!

* * *

It was the 17th of June. Remus Lupin, glancing casually at the calendar on his way down to the kitchen at Grimmauld Place, felt a jolt in his stomach. June 17th was an awful day; or rather, it had been an awful day, that June 17th of – what was it now? – sixteen years ago? Seventeen?

Remus remembered the June 17th of the previous year, when his lifelong friend Sirius Black, recently returned from his year on the lam after escaping prison, had returned to his family's home. Sirius had barely been at Grimmauld Place for a week when Remus had come out to stay for a while. The Weasleys were there, too, and Dumbledore, and all manner of old Order of the Phoenix members who were having a meeting to discuss the current situation.

Remus had known that Sirius noticed the date. Remus had gone over to sit next to Sirius, who was on the couch in the parlor, looking passive. "So…" Remus had said.

Sirius hadn't looked at him. "So," he had replied quietly.

Remus hadn't been quite sure what to say. He had sat back to stare into space.

Sirius had broken the silence. "Even in Azkaban, I knew when it was June 17th," he had murmured.

Remus had still said nothing.

They had sat quietly for a while. Then, with a start, Sirius had stood up. He said nothing; he simply turned and strode out of the room, his cloak swishing behind him.

Now Sirius was dead, and nobody but Remus remembered June 17th, nor its significance. Remus walked into the parlor and sank down on the divan. He sighed and began to remember.

* * *

When Remus started Hogwarts, he was incredibly self conscious of being a werewolf. Of course, this was only logical; werewolves were generally not treated with compassion by non-werewolves. But then, when Sirius Black, James Potter, and Peter Pettigrew, Remus's three best friends, had discovered his secret, they had been supportive and kind. They did not abandon him; instead, they became animagi.

Remus felt that he was the luckiest person on earth, or, at the very least, the luckiest werewolf. His fifth year at Hogwarts was one of the best of his life.

Then Remus began to ponder how being a werewolf would affect his future romantic potential. After all, what girl was going to want to be involved with somebody who turned into a monster once a month?

To make matters worse, Remus was constantly around Sirius Black and James Potter, who were, respectively, the first and second most sought-after lads in the school. Sirius walked down the hall and girls from all sides called out,

"Hey, Sirius!"

"Hello, Sirius!"

"Good morning, Sirius!"

Sirius either ignored the girls or flirted with them. Remus was lucky if he heard one brief, "Hi," as he passed a girl on the way to class.

Sirius did not appreciate true, committed relationships. He went on endless dates and nearly always ended up making out with the girl in question. Remus, however, _did _appreciate commitment and love. The only trouble was, once had met a nice girl, he was too worried to bring up he condition, and so eventually just broke things off.

In his seventh year, Remus noticed she-who-was-to-become-his-latest-love-interest. Elysa Fauchelevent, sixth year, lightly built, not too tall (about 5' 6" was Remus's estimate), golden brown hair that hung in long, loose curls over her shoulders and down her back, sparkling dark brown eyes, long, dark eyelashes, flawless skin. The year before, Elysa Fauchelevent had been nobody: bookish, smart, not one to bother much with her appearance. Now, after the latest annual summer trip to France to visit her cousins, Elysa was different. Oh, she was still smart, but now she was confident and social and outspoken. She also seemed to have realized that she was beautiful (Remus could picture her looking into the mirror and saying, "Oh! I'm… lovely!" a la Cosette in "Les Miserables") and her new attitude made everybody else notice, too.

Remus had actually noticed Elysa before she became one of the prettiest girls in Gryffindor. They were both smart and studious; sometimes Remus had talked to her in the library. She was very friendly and genuine to him, and he been vaguely attracted to her, though at the time he had been involved with a girl in Ravenclaw.

On the first day of term in September of seventh year, Elysa Fauchelevent wandered into Remus's compartment on the Hogwarts Express.

When the compartment door slid open, Remus, Sirius, James, and Peter all looked up. A beautiful girl was standing there. Her dark eyes sparkled; some of her long, loose curls were pulled back messily in a clip, while the rest spilled down her back or over her shoulders; she had not yet changed into her robes, and her slender figure was quite noticeable in her shorts, tight T-shirt, and sandals; her skin was tanned from the Côte d'Azur sun.

"Why, hello," said Sirius courteously, giving the girl a pleasant smile. "What can we do for you?"

The girl smiled. "Sorry… wrong compartment."

Sirius, ever the gentleman, made a great show of looking the girl up and down before saying with a dashing grin, quirking one of his eyebrows, "Are you _sure_?"

The girl rolled her eyes. "_Pretty_ sure..." she paused. She made a great show of looking Sirius up and down. Then she gave an over-exaggerated look of pity. "Actually, I'm positive," she said.

James and Peter burst out laughing. "Tough luck, Padfoot," James remarked.

Sirius grinned at the girl. "Ow. I think you just destroyed my self-esteem."

The girl shrugged. "Oops," she said. "Sorry about that. But don't worry; these things heal with time."

Sirius shook his head at her and tried another dashing smile. The girl ignored him, as well as James and Peter, who were both still laughing, and looked at Remus. "Oh, hey, Remus!" she remarked. "I didn't even notice you!"

In a flash, Remus recognized her. "Hey," he said. He couldn't think of much more to say.

"Have a nice summer?" she asked.

Remus nodded. "You?"

"Terrific!" she replied. Now, Remus couldn't think of anything at all else to say. The girl nodded at him one or twice, a smile on her face. She had dimples. Then she looked around at Sirius, James, and Peter. "Right… well, this was interesting. I think I'll go and locate my real compartment now."

"It was lovely meeting you!" Sirius shouted after her as she walked out of the compartment with a flip of her hair.

As soon as she was gone, Sirius, James, and Peter all turned to Remus. "So, let's get the facts," Sirius began. "Firstly, what's her name?"

Remus swallowed. He was feeling oddly excited. "Elysa Fauchelevent," he told Sirius.

"Age?"

"Sixteen, I assume."

"House?"

"Gryffindor."

"That's odd," James remarked. "I never noticed her before."

"Same," Peter added.

Sirius frowned. "Me neither… and she's quite good looking; you'd think at least _one_ of us would be observant enough to-"

"Ahem," Remus coughed.

Sirius grinned at him. "Oh, right."

He, James, and Peter all folded their hands under their chins and looked at Remus in a show of exaggerated eagerness. "So!" James chirped. "What's the 411?"

Remus laughed and rubbed his eyes. "Um… I don't know her that well; I've just talked to her in the library a couple of times. I never really noticed how… um…"

"Hot she was?" Sirius suggested.

Remus nodded. "Yeah… she always struck me as a bit quiet and shy."

Sirius shrugged. "People change. And besides, I always knew you were a poor judge of character."

Remus rolled his eyes. "Yes, I appall myself."

James, Peter, and Sirius grinned at him.

"You appall me, too," said James earnestly.

"And me!" Peter piped up.

Remus smiled.

* * *

Initial thoughts, anyone?

Review, please! I'll respond to any reviews at the end of the next chapter!

Oh, and as Chapter 2 is, if you recall, already written, etc., it'll be up very soon. And FYI, this story getsgoing very quickly, so you'll get good "action," if you get my drift, by Chapter 3. ;-)


	2. Introductions and More

**A/N: **My computer messed up and to make a long story short, this story got deleted. I figure I'll repost a chapter every two to three days until I'm all caught up to Chapter 16, at which point I'll have already finished writing Chapters 17-and-beyond. Sorry if you've already read this stuff, but I figure you can cope.

**Summary:** Lupin notices the date and sits down to reminisce (that's about half a page). Then it's the tale of his 7th year and beyond, complete with new characters, old characters, and one hell of a lot more.

**Disclaimer:** whatever.

Now, on with the story...

* * *

When the train arrived at the station, Remus once again caught sight of Elysa Fauchelevent. She was with a group of girls. She seemed much more popular than she had been the year before, when she had only had a few close friends, rather than a whole gang of them.

Up at the castle Remus again caught sight of Elysa, sitting at the Gryffindor table with her friends. He swallowed and tried to decide the most inadvertent way to sit with her.

Sirius, however, was all for the direct approach. He strode right up to Elysa's group of friends and, sweeping his hair out of his eyes, said, "May I sit here?" The friends all started giggling. Elysa herself looked somewhat amused.

"I suppose," she said airily. Her friends scooted over, and Sirius sat down next to her.

James and Peter were laughing. Remus laughed too, though inside he felt very annoyed. Why was it that the noncommittal Sirius always got the girls? Remus loved Sirius, of course; Sirius was one of his best, most loyal friends. But really, could it hurt to _just once_ have Sirius not get what he wanted?

James led Peter and Remus over to sit across the table from Sirius and Elysa. "Long time, no see," James remarked to Elysa. She smiled at him pleasantly, but then turned back to Sirius, who was talking to her.

"So," Sirius said, "I feel like we got off on the wrong hand. Allow me to introduce myself: the name's Sirius Black. You can call me Sirius, or, if you prefer the more literal approach, 'Thou whom I desire, His Lordship Black.'"

Elysa let out a breath through her nose, raised her eyebrows, and said, "'Sirius' is fine."

"I get that a lot," Sirius said quickly. It took Remus a moment to get the joke.

Elysa rolled her eyes. "I'll bet you do."

Sirius grinned and winked at her.

Elysa rolled her eyes again, but then she smiled genuinely. "I'm Elysa Fauchelevent."

"Fauchelevent? You French?" Sirius asked, reaching for a goblet of pumpkin juice.

She nodded. "Yeah, but I've lived here all my life. We're the British branch of the Fauchelevent clan."

Sirius nodded. "I've heard of your family."

"Likewise."

Sirius didn't say anything. He gave her a rueful look.

Elysa looked confused. "I'm sorry… is that offensive?"

Sirius shook his head. "No, sorry. I just don't really get along with my family."

Elysa looked surprised. "Why ever not?"

Sirius laughed derisively. "Short version? They're pure-blood maniacs."

Elysa frowned. "I'm sorry," she said conversationally. "How do you stand them?"

"I don't," Sirius replied. "I ran away last summer. I live with him now." He jerked his head at James.

Elysa looked taken aback. "That's… um, interesting."

"Save it," Sirius said, looking somewhat miserable.

Then he looked at Elysa and smiled. "My apologies… I usually don't share that whole sob story with people I've just met. Let's get back to the 'nice to meet you' part."

Elysa laughed. "Alright… so, what'd you do this summer?"

"Hung out with him," said Sirius, jerking his head toward James again.

"I do have a name, you know!" said James, pretending to be indignant. He turned to Elysa. "My name is James," he informed her.

She smiled. "Charmed."

"Yes, and that's Peter and that's Remus, as you know," said Sirius. "So, how about your summer, then?"

Elysa grinned. "Went to France. Saw the French Fauchelevents. It's an annual thing."

"_Parlez-vous français?_" Sirius asked.

"_Oui, naturellement.… et toi?_"

Sirius shook his head. "Nope... we Blacks generally don't stray far from this cold island."

"What a shame."

"'Tis."

Elysa laughed.

Sirius brushed his hair out of his eyes and grinned at her.

"Stop doing that!" she exclaimed.

"Why?" asked Sirius, doing it again.

"Because it's… annoying," Elysa finished lamely.

Sirius did it several times in quick succession. "They don't seem to mind," he said, glancing behind Elysa's shoulder at the table of girls who were staring at him.

Elysa looked behind her. She laughed.

Sirius leaned close to her and whispered, "Are you just annoyed that when I do it, you can't resist me?"

Elysa whipped her head around to stare at him. Across the table, Remus could see her noticing his gray eyes, his Grecian features, the smile that was playing across his lips.

Elysa opened her mouth. She didn't say anything for a moment. Then she said, as sarcastically as she could muster, "Yes, that's exactly it."

Remus felt his heart sinking. He knew that she was only flirting now. Damn that Sirius and his charm!

Sirius cocked one eyebrow at Elysa and brushed his hair back again.

"Sorry. No effect," she informed him, shrugging.

Sirius snapped his fingers in exaggerated aggravation. "Damn." He sighed. "Ah well… I tried."

Elysa laughed.

* * *

That night, Remus went to bed in a bad mood. He did not tell his friends his thoughts. Sirius was busy talking about Elysa Fauchelevent.

"Glad I met her," he remarked airily. "Perhaps I'll ask her out some time this term…"

Remus could barely contain his frustration. Here was Sirius, having casually flirted with the girl Remus wanted to get to know better, now turning out to not be excessively interested in her. This was what had always bothered Remus: Sirius got all of the girls without trying, but then he didn't want everything that he got.

* * *

Meanwhile, in her dormitory, Elysa Fauchelevent was having a chat with some of her friends. "So, you've just been hit on by Sirius Black," Marvina Dermott remarked. "How does it feel?"

Elysa shrugged. "Glad I met him, I suppose," she remarked. "Maybe I'll go out with him some time this term…"

Marvina rolled her eyes. "Well, if you don't, I will," she informed Elysa. "By the way, Lysie, just out of curiosity: why are you so different now?"

Elysa tilted her head to the side and tugged on one of her long curls, puzzled. "How so?"

Marvina shrugged. "Well, it's just that last year you were sort of shy and quiet… I mean, with everybody but us… now you seem a lot more… outgoing, I guess."

Elysa smiled slightly. "Oh, please… doesn't everybody go through phases? My cousin Nathalie was saying the same thing over the summer: 'Lysie, I don't know but something's different about you…' I guess I just don't feel as shy now. Now I don't care what people who aren't my close friends think about me."

Marvina grinned. "Sirius Black noticed."

Elysa rolled her eyes. "Oh joy."

* * *

Over the next week, Remus came to realize that Elysa Fauchelevent was being pursued by a large portion of the male population of the school. He was in a perpetual state of annoyance because she was so damn hard not to notice. Elysa seemed to be growing more beautiful by the day, at least in Remus's eyes. Her loosely-curled golden brown hair always looked fabulous, be it back in a ponytail or falling around her shoulders. She had perfect skin, the perfect figure… and she was smart, besides!

Every day, Remus saw Elysa chatting with a new guy. He wondered what Sirius's thoughts were on this, but found him unperturbed. "I told you, I don't plan on marrying her or anything… she was just nice to meet!" he exclaimed, grinning and shaking his head at Remus's naïveté.

On Thursday, Remus was sitting in the library when Elysa Fauchelevent walked in. She had her book bag with her, and she made straight for his table.

"Hey, Remus! Mind if I sit here?" she asked.

Remus smiled, joyful. "Not at all," he replied.

Elysa sat down across the table from him. "So, I haven't seen you lately," she said. "How're your new classes, and everything?"

Remus rolled his eyes. "Just grand, of course."

Elysa giggled. "Likewise."

Remus, thankfully, found himself finally relaxing around her. They chatted for a few minutes, but then Elysa said, "I need to do my essay now," and pulled out her parchment and quill. Remus smiled slightly. She was still just as studious as before.

Next weekend was a Hogsmeade trip. Remus was trying to decide if he was brave enough to ask Elysa to accompany him. Unfortunately, Sirius was too quick.

While walking to class on Monday morning, Remus and his friends crossed Elysa and hers in the corridor. "Hey, Lysie!" Sirius called out of the blue.

Elysa, as well as all of her friends, many of whom were blushing or grinning at Sirius, turned toward him. "Hey, Siri!" Elysa called back.

"Want to go to Hogsmeade with me this weekend?" Sirius asked.

Elysa grinned. "I suppose."

Sirius grinned back. "Alright, then."

"Well, that's settled," remarked James, "but we need to get to class."

"That was… random," said Remus lightly. "I though you fancied that Rosy girl in Hufflepuff… what happened to her?"

"Who?" Sirius asked. "Oh, right, Rosy… nah, she may be good looking, but she's boring. Not too smart."

Remus was flabbergasted. "Since when do you care about how smart people are?" he asked. James and Peter laughed.

Sirius smiled slightly. "Since now."

Remus didn't know what to make of it.

* * *

Thanks to those who reviewed!

CONFUSED IDIOTS - glad you think it's cool!

lavizsla- thanks; I will!

tresdrole - I know! "WTF!" But yeah, I will.

If you read the chapter, please review, too! It makes me sooooo happy and I'll definitely get Chapter Three up sooner!


	3. The Real Reason

**A/N: **My computer messed up and to make a long story short, this story got deleted. I figure I'll repost achapter every two to three days until I'm all caught up to Chapter 16, at which point I'll have already finished writing Chapters 17-and-beyond. Sorry if you've already read this stuff, but I figure you can cope.

**Summary:** Lupin notices the date and sits down to reminisce (that's about half a page). Then it's the tale of his 7th year and beyond, complete with new characters, old characters, and one hell of a lot more.

**Disclaimer:** whatever.

* * *

Back in their dormitories that night, however, Sirius admitted to his friends what he was really on his mind. 

"She was talking to Bella – you know, my cousin," he said. "Bella was telling her about that Voldemort madman who's going around trying to gain power. Well, you know how my family stands on that purity of blood issue… Bella was asking 'Lysa if she was interested in coming to some meeting, seeing as she was pure of blood, and all of that. They didn't know I heard them; they were in the library, and I was in the next row of books. Well, I was about to come out and tell Bella to shut the hell up and go away, but then Elysa said, 'Sorry, not interested.' She sounded sort of annoyed. Bella said, 'But Elysa, the Fauchelevents are like, _the_ oldest European wizarding family. The Dark Lord is all about protecting the lineage of people like _you_.'

"Then Elysa, sounding even more peeved, said, 'This "Dark Lord" can be about whatever the hell he wants, but he's not getting involved with _my_ family. Good grief, Bella… I'm just not interested!'

"Then Bella said, sort of in a hiss, 'You're either with the Dark Lord or against him, Elysa Fauchelevent.'

"'Lysa was quiet for a moment, but then she said, 'Bella, have you ever been to France?'

"Bella shook her head (I saw her from a gap between the books) and said, 'No; Blacks generally don't leave this cold island.'

"'Lysa said, 'So I've heard.' Then she said, 'Bella, I have a very large family, just like you. They are very influential, just like yours. But there's a difference: my family is spread throughout Europe: I have cousins in Spain, Italy, Romania, Poland... France, of course… well, you get the idea. I just spent the entire summer spending time with my family, and I can tell you this: the Fauchelevents handle their own affairs. This Voldemort fellow is just here, on this cold island. My family is all over the world. So tell Voldemort to keep the fuck out of our business.'"

Sirius stopped talking and sighed. He looked at James. "I think I'm going to marry her."

James raised his eyebrows. "I thought the plan was to just go out with her for a week or two."

Sirius shrugged. "Change of plans. I mean, did you hear how she told off Bella? Oh, and then she sort of walked coolly away, and Bella let out an irritated sort of noise, and went in the other direction. Then 'Lysa saw me, and she just sort of gave me a look of pity. She came up to me and whispered, 'Sirius, I'm very sorry about your family.' I smiled and said it was okay, etc. Then she said, 'Yeah, right. But all joking aside, Sirius…' Then she didn't say anything. She looked like she was thinking. I sort of raised my eyebrows and said, 'I'm having trouble refraining from saying anything witty… could you hurry it up, please?' or something else just as clever; I don't really remember… but then she laughed and shook her head and said, 'I'll see you around, Sirius.' Then she went away and left me very confused.

"And that's why I asked her out earlier," Sirius concluded.

"Right…" said James, putting on an incredibly confused expression.

* * *

Over in her dormitory, Elysa Fauchelevent was explaining herself to her friends. 

"So, Lysie, I see you _are_ going to Hogsmeade with Sirius Black after all," Marvina remarked.

Elysa smiled. "You see correctly."

Marvina giggled. "So, Lysie, tell us: why the sudden change of heart? You seemed so indifferent toward him earlier."

Elysa sighed. Then she smiled and told the story of Bellatrix Black and her attempt at recruiting Elysa for the Dark Side.

"Ah. So, you suddenly like Sirius Black _why_?" Marvina asked when she was finished.

Elysa exhaled slowly. "I don't know… I guess I just understood what his life at home is like… I felt really bad for him. Then I ran into him in the next row and I told him so. And… I don't know." Elysa sighed. She looked out of the dark window. "I guess I just want to get to know him better… though maybe it's a bit more than that…" She trailed off, leaving Marvina shaking her head in pity. Ah, the innocence of the love-struck.

* * *

Remus was extremely aggravated. Though he sensed that Sirius was really just going through another one of his phases of being attracted to a girl, he was annoyed that the girl in question had to be Elysa Fauchelevent. To make matters worse, Sirius's tale of how Elysa told off Bellatrix Black had been to Remus as big a turn-on as it had been to Sirius. 

Remus knew something of the Fauchelevents. They were a huge, ancient wizarding family, based in France but with influential branches throughout Europe, as well as in America, Africa, and probably some other continents, too. Elysa's branch, the Fauchelevents of the United Kingdom, included only her immediate family, in addition to some obscure uncles and second cousins. Every summer, or so Remus gathered, the entire Fauchelevent clan gathered in Paris and then went down to some house along the Côte d'Azur – a villa on the cliffs over the ocean, Remus presumed – for a reunion.

As a child with few relatives outside of his immediate family, Remus found the concept of a mass of relations very appealing. In addition, he had heard stories of the Fauchelevent family dating from the Middle Ages and beyond, which involved fierce family loyalty and pride. Remus realized that the thing that had made what Elysa said to Bellatrix so incredibly… well, _hot_, was that Elysa did not go around parading the fact that she belonged to a huge, influential, internationally-based family. Rather, she invoked this fact only when absolutely necessary, such as using it to give Bellatrix a taste of what she was up against if she tried to threaten Elysa.

Remus could not help his feelings any longer: Elysa was just too damn incredible. Remus did not know how he hadn't realized this before now.

And now Sirius had realized it, too. Remus exhaled into his pillow in frustration and hoped that Sirius's recent infatuation with Elysa Fauchelevent was just a passing phase.

* * *

It was not a passing phase. On Saturday Sirius met Elysa in the foyer to make their way down to Hogsmeade with the rest of the students. He noticed her right away as she came down the stairs. This not being a school day, Elysa was dressed in normal clothes, and damn, did she ever look good. She wore a denim skirt, a white T-shirt with something in French ("Criel sur mer") printed on it in large cursive blue-green letters, and sandals. Her hair was pulled back off of her neck in a curly ponytail, and dangling earrings hung at her ears. 

"Hello," she said cheerfully.

"Hello," Sirius replied. He offered Elysa his arm, and she took it, giggling. The two of them made their way down the long lawn toward Hogsmeade.

The first thing Sirius noticed that was different about this date when compared to the hundreds of other ones he had gone on was that he didn't feel in control. As soon as they left the castle, Elysa said, "So, Sirius, where are we headed today?"

Sirius shrugged. "Well," he said clearly, putting on an air of explaining something to a very small child, "I think we should walk down to the village first and look around, don't you agree?"

Elysa smiled tolerantly. "Well," she said, mimicking his voice, "I think it's rather too nice a day to go _inside_, don't you agree? _I _think we should go sit by the lake."

Sirius was taken aback. He had never started a date by going to the lake. True, he had ended plenty of them over there, making out and so on, but commencing a date at the lake was a bit unusual.

Not missing a beat, Sirius said, "_I_ think that's a lovely idea, dearie."

Elysa snorted. "_Dearie_? _Mon dieu_… well, I'm glad you approve, at any rate…"

Sirius smiled. He was quite enjoying this. "So, Lysie," he began.

"Yes, Siri?" she asked.

Sirius frowned. "Does it actually bother you when I call you 'Lysie,' or do you just like making clever witticisms?"

"I just like making clever witticisms," she assured him.

Sirius smiled in spite of himself. "Well, as long as that's settled… but anyway, Lysie, I was wondering… about that time that you talked to Bella? I wanted to… thank you, I guess." Sirius frowned. "Good lord, I sound strange… I'm sorry; I'm usually not this sincere…"

Elysa laughed. "I forgive you. And it was nothing." She frowned, too. "Actually, Sirius, I was wondering about your family. I mean, if it's too personal or whatever, you don't need to tell me, but I guess I was wondering about the… I don't know… the 'long version' of why you left home."

Sirius turned to stare at her. "You actually care?" he asked, unable to conceal his astonishment. People usually didn't ask him questions like this; the girls he took out were usually too wrapped up in flirting with him to ask him about his personal history.

Elysa nodded. "Yes, I do." Then she seemed embarrassed, for she blushed.

Sirius noticed and felt himself blush, too. What was wrong with him? He was usually so suave!

Elysa noticed him blushing and burst out laughing. "Wow! I can't believe I made the great Sirius Black blush!" she remarked.

Sirius barked out a laughed. "Yep, I reckon you're the first one to manage that."

They had reached the lake. Elysa sat down on the sand by the water, and Sirius quietly joined her.

Elysa tilted her head to the side to study him. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but then seemed to change her mind. Sirius mimicked her titled head and pretended to study her.

Elysa rolled her eyes. "You are one clever little boy," she remarked.

Sirius lowered his eyelids modestly. "Thank you."

Elysa laughed at him. "So, anyway, about your family…"

"Well…"

Sirius lay down with his hands behind his head to think. Elysa did so, too. They both looked up at the blue sky. Finally Sirius began to speak. Elysa listened without interruption while Sirius told her about the fanaticism of his parents regarding purity of blood, their advocating of Voldemort, and how his mother finally cursed him from the house, shrieking insults.

When he was finished, Sirius turned to face Elysa, who was still lying next to him, and said, "I cannot believe I just told you all of that."

Elysa turned to look at him, too. She looked thoughtful. "Why not?" she asked.

Sirius shrugged, and flicked some grains of sand idly. Then he said, "I usually don't tell anybody but James, Remus, and Peter my personal issues. You probably think I'm one messed up little kid."

Elysa shook her head vigorously, no. "I don't at all, Sirius. Look, I… I know a lot more about… Voldemort and all of that than I told your cousin. The Fauchelevent Empire, if you will, stretches practically everywhere, so my relatives know about Voldemort's plans. And they don't approve, mind you… I mean, I have plenty of relatives married into the family who are muggle-born, and everything… but more importantly, they're worried."

Sirius looked at her curiously. "Why?"

Elysa shrugged. "They think Voldemort's stuff is going to be really, really bad. They think he will achieve much of what he wants to. They think he's going to take a miracle to stop."

Sirius was taken aback. "Then why don't they do something about it?" he reasoned.

Elysa shrugged again. "I don't know… nothing is certain yet, I guess, and besides, they'd need supporters. My family may be enormous, but it's not all-powerful." She laughed ruefully. "I'm sorry. I must sound really conceited."

Now it was Sirius's turn to shake his head vigorously, no. "No, I don't think so at all," he said honestly.

Elysa sighed. "I never really talk about my family. I don't know why I am now… probably because you just did. I don't know, I don't like to call attention to it. I just don't feel like blood is that important… I mean, I love my family and everything, but I think people shouldn't be judged on who their relatives are."

Sirius stared at her.

Elysa looked shocked at herself. "Good grief… that was like _the_ most honest thing I've ever said. Consider yourself lucky, Sirius; you got to hear it firsthand."

She looked at him. "Wow. And that directly relates to your situation. Damn, I'm profound…"

Sirius laughed. Then he said, "You have no idea how much I wish that my family were as enlightened as you are."

"Actually, I think I have a pretty good idea," Elysa remarked.

Sirius smiled at her. She was so… genuine. And clever. And kind. And hot. Sirius opened his mouth to say something, though he wasn't sure what. "Why are you so honest with me?" he said at last.

"Likewise," she remarked.

Sirius squinted in thought. "You know, as long as we're being honest, this is like _the_ longest time I've ever gone without getting to say something clever."

"Yeah, and you just blew it again right there," Elysa remarked.

Sirius shook his head at her, smiling.

"Just kidding," Elysa said gently.

A bell tolled out from the castle, announcing that it was almost time for supper.

Sirius looked back at Elysa. "Well…" he began. Had it been anybody else, Sirius would have started making out with them then and there. But Elysa was different. Sirius wasn't sure what to do.

"Just remember, Sirius," Elysa said quietly, "if you ever need a family, you will always have mine." Then she leaned forward and kissed him gently on the lips.

She stood up quickly and began walking back toward the castle.

"Whoa! Wait!" Sirius called, standing up and brushing sand off of his pants.

She turned to face him again. Sirius was momentarily lost for words. Then, his mind catching up with him, he swept his hair out of his eyes and grinned at her. Elysa smiled broadly and shook her head, and they walked to one another. Sirius stared into Elysa's beautiful dark eyes for a moment. Then she raised her eyebrows as if to say, "Well?"

Sirius kissed her. It got more and more passionate as the moments passed, and they were just about sink down to the sand when the bell tolled out from the castle again, signaling the official start of dinner. Sirius and Elysa pulled back from one another, Sirius's hands still holding her hips, and Elysa's arms still wrapped around his neck.

"Let's go eat dinner," Elysa suggested in a whisper, jerking her head up toward the castle, though her eyes never left Sirius's.

Sirius shrugged, and pretended to think. "Well, I suppose we can always continue this later…"

Without thinking about it, he traced the small of her back with a finger.

Elysa smiled slightly, and unwrapped herself from Sirius. He slid his arm around her slender shoulders as they made their way back up to the castle, feeling somehow fuller than he had ever felt before.

* * *

Only two reviews? I think I might cry... :'(

But oh well! Thanks to tresdrole and Sadiler!

tresdrole - thank you!

Sadiler - glad you like the character portrayal... yeah, that's what I think they should be like, too. And thank you!


	4. Of Lamentations

**A/N: **My computer messed up and to make a long story short, this story got deleted. I figure I'll repost a chapter every two to three days until I'm all caught up to Chapter 16, at which point I'll have already finished writing Chapters 17-and-beyond. Sorry if you've already read this stuff, but I figure you can cope.

**Summary:** Lupin notices the date and sits down to reminisce (that's about half a page). Then it's the tale of his 7th year and beyond, complete with new characters, old characters, and one hell of a lot more.

**Disclaimer:** whatever.

* * *

Up in the Great Hall, Remus, James, and Peter were already sitting at the Gryffindor table helping themselves to buttered rolls and chicken legs. Then Remus glanced up from his food to see Sirius and Elysa, hand in hand, making their way down the stairs. As he watched, Sirius seemed to mutter something and Elysa laughed.

Remus felt envy clog his throat. He was suddenly not very hungry.

Sirius and Elysa arrived at the table and sat down opposite Remus, James, and Peter. "Why, hello," remarked James, looking up from his plate. "_Somebody_ is a little late for supper, aren't they?"

"Yes," added Peter. "I wonder what _somebody_ was up to that would make _somebody_ arrive so dreadfully tardy."

James and Peter laughed at one another, while Sirius smiled at them and shook his head in mock-pity while Elysa said, "I know what you mean; people who come late to meals are _so _rude!"

Remus let out a laugh in spite of himself. He looked at Elysa. In muggle clothes, she looked more beautiful than usual; robes concealed her figure. "Where did you guys go?" he asked.

Elysa smiled slightly. "Down to the lake. We didn't feel like going to Hogsmeade."

Remus groaned inwardly. Couples always went to the lake to make out. And if they hadn't gone to Hogsmeade at all… good grief, was Sirius _so_ attractive that girls would forgo an actual date just to snog him? But Remus wouldn't let himself jump to conclusions yet; he figured he would find out all of the details tonight back in his dormitory, where Sirius was bound to brag about all he had done with Elysa Fauchelevent.

Sirius and Elysa talked all through dinner. They talked to one another and to Remus and to James and to Peter. They talked to Elysa's friends. They laughed at one another's jokes and constantly poked gentle fun of each other. Remus did not know what to think. On the one hand, the longer Elysa talked the more Remus was attracted to her. On the other hand, he did not like seeing Sirius and Elysa so happy.

Remus felt guilty. He was being a very bad friend. But still, he assured himself, I'm not going to say anything mean or let on the fact that I like Elysa, too. So really, I'm being a good friend: I'm letting Sirius have his fun. And besides, the two of them won't stay together long, if Sirius's previous relationships are any indication.

Elysa and Sirius, meanwhile, were feeling quite differently. Elysa glanced over at Sirius every once in a while and felt her heart give a little jump. She could not believe how hard she had fallen for him. Elysa felt happier than she had ever felt before, as if some incomplete part of her had just been filled.

Sirius, for his part, was feeling very strange. He had never felt so strongly for a person in his life. Sirius was not sure what had come over him, but he knew one thing: he had fallen very hard for Elysa Fauchelevent. When Sirius glanced over at her, his heart seemed to skip a beat, and he couldn't help but smile. Under the table, Sirius took Elysa's delicate hand. She looked over at him, her dark eyes sparkling, and smiled back.

* * *

Back in the Gryffindor common room later that evening, Elysa and Sirius said goodnight while Remus waited impatiently for Sirius to come back up to the dormitory to give them the scoop. Though he didn't like the idea of Elysa making out with Sirius, or whatever else they may have done, he would be reassured if Sirius discussed his date with Elysa just as he discussed all of the other dates he had been on: a quick run through of the highlights, followed by a prediction of what was to come. 

At the foot of the stairs, Elysa said abruptly, "Sirius, I have a… request."

"Request away," Sirius replied politely.

Elysa smiled. She took Sirius's hand and looked down at it for a moment. "It's just…" she looked up into his face, her eyes searching. "I don't want people to think of me as… as 'Sirius Black's latest catch,' or… whatever."

Sirius took a breath. "Lysie," he said quietly, "you are not 'Sirius Black's latest catch,' or whatever. I swear to you, I have never felt this way in my life before." Elysa raised her eyebrows, and Sirius remarked, "Wow. I sound ridiculous… but seriously, Lysie, if it's any consolation, _I _don't think of you as my latest catch."

Elysa smiled at him. "Okay," she said in a small voice.

Sirius put on a look of concern. "Similarly," he said, "I don't want people thinking of me as 'Elysa Fauchelevent's latest catch.'"

Elysa laughed. "Well… you sort of _are_ my–" she began.

"Fine. I see how it is; I can cope," Sirius interrupted, trying to sound hurt. Then, unable to keep it up, he grinned at her.

Elysa laughed again, shaking her head. "Goodnight, Sirius," she said.

"Goodnight, Elysa," he replied, and he slid his hand out of hers and lifted it to her cheek, tracing her face with his fingers. Elysa caught his hand in hers and kissed it. Then she leaned forward and gave him a swift kiss on the mouth.

With that, Elysa Fauchelevent turned and headed up the stairs to the girls' dormitories.

"Sleep tight!" Sirius called after her.

"I will!" he heard Elysa call back to him.

Feeling rather lightheaded, Sirius turned and made his way up the spiral staircase to his dormitory. As soon as he opened the door, Remus said pleasantly, "Why, look who's back."

He, James and Remus were sitting on Sirius's bed, waiting for Sirius to arrive.

"What's the scoop, Padfoot?" asked James, putting on an innocent, eager expression.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "What about?"

"About our transfiguration papers," replied Peter sarcastically. "Good grief, Padfoot, what do _you_ think?"

Sirius pretended to be puzzled. "I think lots of things," he said, trying to sound as confused as possible.

James rolled his eyes. "Oh, cut with the crap," he said. "Seriously, Sirius, what's the deal with Elysa Fauchelevent?"

Sirius smiled slightly. "Oh, I don't know," he said. "She's nice."

All of his friends looked at him in disbelief.

"How was your _date_?" asked Remus, emphasizing the word "date."

Sirius looked at him. "It was fine."

Peter raised his eyebrows. "That's it? 'It was fine'? Honestly, Sirius, what's gotten into you?"

Sirius didn't say anything for a moment. With any other girl, he realized, he would instantly be sharing every aspect of what they had done. But Elysa was different. Sirius did not want to talk about her in any manner that could be in the least bit degrading.

"I… we talked," Sirius said, lamely.

His friends laughed. "Yes, and _then_ what?" asked James. "Or did you just sit five feet apart and ask one another questions the whole afternoon?"

Sirius frowned slightly. "I don't… um, remember," he replied.

Remus had caught on to how Sirius was feeling. He looked disappointed. "Okay," he remarked.

James and Peter, however, didn't get it. "Yeah, sure," said Peter, rolling his eyes. "Go on and tell us, Sirius!"

Sirius sat down next to them on his bed. "I don't… want… to," he said slowly.

James and Peter got it now. They stared at Sirius, as did Remus. "This is new," James remarked.

Sirius sighed, and lay back on his dark red comforter. "Not to be cliché, but I've never felt this way about any other person before," he said. "I just… I don't want to tell you about it right now."

His friends continued to stare at him. Sirius suddenly laughed. "Good lord," he remarked, "you three look really odd."

They all laughed then. James and Peter headed across the room to brush their teeth, but Remus walked slowly over to his bed and got in. He didn't say anything.

"Hey, what's up?" Sirius asked, noticing his silence.

Remus glanced over at him. "Sorry; just tired," he replied, trying to sound cheerful.

Sirius shrugged. "Okay," he said, accepting Remus's excuse.

Remus sighed and closed his eyes. Things were not looking good.

* * *

On Sunday, Sirius came up behind Elysa at breakfast and cupping his hand around her ear whispered, "I want to finish what we were doing yesterday." 

Elysa giggled and turned to look at him. He smiled complacently. "I would _love _to," Elysa said pleasantly.

Sirius grinned at her before heading down the table to sit with James, Remus, and Peter.

Remus did not know what Sirius had whispered to Elysa Fauchelevent, or why she had smiled so broadly at him after he said it, but he was feeling very dejected. _I just need to move on_, Remus thought to himself. But he couldn't. Remus had never fallen for somebody as hard as he had fallen for Elysa Fauchelevent. It was almost uncanny. There he had been the years before, chatting with Elysa in the library on a regular basis, and thinking her a sweet, kind, clever, funny person, yet never realizing how much he really liked her. It had taken Elysa's sudden transformation from quiet, studious girl-who-would-probably-look-cute-if-she-put-some-effort-into-her-appearance to dazzling sex goddess to jolt Remus out of his apathy. _Dear god, am I really that shallow?_ Remus pondered.

No, he didn't think he was. He was just a normal teenage boy with normal hormones… who also happened to be a werewolf.

_Fuck_. Remus hadn't considered that werewolf thing lately. If there was one thing to make him increase his irritation at Sirius's luck, it was the knowledge that regardless of whom Elysa ended up with, his being a werewolf would probably make any long-term relationship between them impossible. _Why was life so unfair?_

Remus heaved a great sigh without intending to. His friends all turned to stare at him.

"Feeling lamentable, are we?" Sirius remarked cheerfully. James and Peter chuckled. Remus laughed, too, though inside he was thinking, _If only you knew._

Soon after breakfast, Sirius set out for his date with Elysa, part two. Remus watched them leave the Great Hall with a feeling of mingled annoyance and sadness. They were such a beautiful couple that several people turned to look at them. Elysa was looking more attractive than ever in a pair of faded jeans and a tank top. She had a black zip-up sweatshirt tied carelessly around her slender waist. Her hair was down today, and her long, loose curls fell over her shoulders. And Sirius, for his part, always looked sexy.

As Elysa and Sirius exited the foyer, Sirius slid his arm around her shoulders, and Elysa, turning to smile at him, slid hers around his waist.

Like so, they made their way down the lawn toward the lake.

Once they were gone, James said brightly, "Well, I hope they have a lovely time. I do think–" He stopped abruptly when Lily Evans walked up.

"Why, good morning, Lily," he said pleasantly.

"Hi," she said carelessly, looking somewhat annoyed at having to talk to James. "I was just wondering, what's the deal with Black and that Fauchelevent girl? My friend Grace is curious. I think she's trying to decide if Black's still worth her efforts."

James laughed immediately. Lily rolled her eyes. "Well?" she repeated.

James stopped laughing abruptly. "Oh, I don't know," he said smoothly. "If past performance is an indication of future, then I predict Sirius will be available again within a week or two. Speaking of which, will you go out with me?"

Lily rolled her eyes again. "If past performance is an indication of future, I don't think I really need to answer that question."

"Well, let me know if you change your mind," James replied in a suave voice. Lily rolled her eyes a third time and walked away.

"_Damn it_," James muttered.

Meanwhile, Sirius and Elysa had reached the lake. They made their way leisurely, finally stopping to sit down behind a cluster of blackberry bushes near the shore.

"So," said Elysa brightly. A slight breeze blew a wavy strand of golden brown hair across her face. Sirius reached forward and gently tucked it back behind her ear.

Elysa smiled shyly. She reached forward and touched his face, very lightly. "I like your face," she announced. She ran her fingers over his nose, eyebrows, lips, and chin.

"And I like yours," Sirius informed her, catching her hand and kissing it. Then he rolled over on top of her, pinning her to the ground.

"You're quite heavy," Elysa remarked conversationally.

Their faces were inches apart. Sirius shrugged. "Actually, I'm only like 150 pounds." He brought his hands up and put them on either side of her face, gently stroking her hair. Then he kissed her fully.

Elysa slid her hands around the nape of his neck and into his hair, pulling him into her. They continued to make out for quite a long time, and then Sirius slid down to Elysa's neck and began kissing it, and then slid lower still, until Elysa pulled back.

"Sirius, don't," she said.

He came back up to her face. "Okay," he replied simply.

Elysa almost laughed. "Wow. What about that Sirius Black I've been hearing about for the last five years? The one who can 'make any girl give him whatever he wants'?"

Sirius shrugged, and kissed her lips tenderly. "I'm different around you," he said honestly. "I will never do anything to you that you don't give me express permission to do… express _written_ permission, even," he added.

Elysa laughed. "Okay, then," she replied. "I give you express permission to keep kissing me."

"Express _written_ permission?" Sirius asked, trying to sound skeptical.

"Yes," Elysa said brightly.

"I suppose it's alright then," Sirius replied cheerfully. They started kissing again.

* * *

Only one review? But so many of you added me to your favorites lists! GAH, I'm on more favs than I have reviews! Why is life so cruel? 

Heh heh, just kidding... I don't mind... really, I don't... tugs at shirt collar

To the ONE person who reviewed:

dixio: Thank you! Haha, yeah, I said coger to my sister when I first got home... I was like, "cógela" cuz I wanted her to take my hamburger from the guy at burger king. The guy sort of glanced at me, so then I started speaking to my sister in a hella Spanish accent (I usually sound peruvian cuz my dad grew up there and my nanny was from there, plus I use peruvian slang a lot) and hoped the guy would think I was from Spain, thus justifying my use of the word coger, etc. And my sister was very, very embarassed because I was being stupid... so... yeah... I'm ranting now, too, haha.

Hope the rest of you review! I promise I won't go off on a rant like I just did there...


	5. In Which It Begins

**A/N: **My computer messed up and to make a long story short, this story got deleted. I figure I'll repost achapter every two to three days until I'm all caught up to Chapter 16, at which point I'll have already finished writing Chapters 17-and-beyond. Sorry if you've already read this stuff, but I figure you can cope.

**Summary:** Lupin notices the date and sits down to reminisce (that's about half a page). Then it's the tale of his 7th year and beyond, complete with new characters, old characters, and one hell of a lot more.

**Disclaimer:** whatever.

* * *

Back up at the castle, Remus was trying to work on his transfiguration essay. Peter was sitting on a chair nearby, staring uncomprehendingly at a star chart. "I don't get this at all," he grumbled. "Moony, if Mars appears during the solstice, does that mean people born in December are going to be more likely to break things or to eat things?" 

Remus shrugged. "I haven't the faintest idea."

James came down the stairs, looking happy. "Well, it's about time to plan this month's full moon adventure," he said brightly. "Who's ready to take a break from study and help me think up a 'to do' list?"

"Oughtn't we to wait for Sirius?" Peter remarked.

James shrugged. "This is only preliminary. We _do _have a whole two weeks 'til the full moon, you know."

"Alright, then," Remus agreed. He and Peter picked up their books and followed James into a corner, where he had unfurled the Marauders' Map.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," chanted James, his wand on the map. Ink lines quickly filled it to show a detailed map of the Hogwarts grounds, complete with little ink dots showing the positions of people.

"Why, if it isn't our friend Padfoot," James remarked, pointing at a dot on the map labeled _Sirius Black_. Next to it – or, rather, under it – was another dot labeled _Elysa Fauchelevent_.

"He looks busy," said Peter delightedly, laughing. James laughed, too, and Remus let out a few weak chuckles.

Sirius and Elysa did not appear at lunchtime. In fact, it was not until almost three o'clock that they appeared in the Gryffindor common room hand in hand, their clothing looking somewhat rumpled. "Fancy seeing you two," remarked James.

"Why, hello," said Sirius cheerfully. "How was your morning?"

"Brilliant, of course," James replied idly, brushing the question aside with his hand, "but I think the bigger question is, how was _your_ morning?"

Elysa and Sirius both laughed. "It was lovely, thanks," said Elysa happily. Remus noticed as she squeezed Sirius's hand.

"Well, that's good," said James, grinning. "Say, Padfoot, we were just discussing the… um, plan for the coming weeks. How 'bout you lend a hand?"

Sirius glanced at Elysa. "What say you?" he murmured. Elysa giggled.

"Do whatever you like. I need to go work on a potions essay," she replied.

"All right then." She squeezed his hand warmly and then turned, heading up to her dormitory.

Sirius made his way over to the corner where his friends sat. "So, what's the deal thus far?" he asked.

James pointed to the Marauders' map. "I think we should explore this area a bit more," he suggested, "but Wormtail thinks we should head over to the village and check out those caverns out behind town…"

* * *

The next two weeks sped by. Remus grew more and more used to seeing Sirius and Elysa together in the common room, Elysa often in Sirius's lap. On the day before the full moon, a Saturday, Sirius and Elysa had gone for a walk down to the lake. It was, by that point, at least the tenth time they had made such a trip. Each time, they laughed, talked, asked personal questions, gave honest answers, and ended up making out. 

This time, when they reached a nice spot on the sand, Elysa said, "So, why are you so excited today?"

Sirius grinned. "Does it show?"

Elysa nodded. "To me. What's going on that's so great?"

What was going on, of course, was the full moon. Sirius gave her a mischievous look, but didn't answer.

Elysa looked at him curiously. "Sirius, why do your friends call you 'Padfoot?'" she asked.

Sirius stared at her. "Honestly?"

Elysa nodded. "Yes, and come to that, why do you call Remus, 'Moony,' and James, 'Prongs,' and Peter, 'Wormtail?' It seems so random."

Sirius looked away from her, across the lake. Elysa, who had been sitting beside him, leaned her face into his neck and kissed him. Sirius let her keep doing that for a while; he quite enjoyed it. Finally Elysa, resting her chin on his shoulder and peering up into his face, said, "So? Are you going to tell me?"

Sirius sighed. "Do I have to?" he whined.

Elysa didn't laugh. "No, you don't _have_ to," she replied quickly. "I was just curious."

Sirius turned to look at her. She looked so beautiful, her chin on his shoulder, their faces inches apart. Some loose strands of hair blew around her face. Sirius kissed her gently on the nose, and then on the lips. "I love you," he said suddenly.

Elysa grinned. "I love you, too."

Sirius pulled Elysa into his lap. She turned to look at him, hugging herself against the brisk October breeze. Sirius put his arms around her and held her close.

"What's the worst thing you've ever done?" he asked her abruptly.

Elysa tucked her head beneath his chin. "Um… well, once when I was seven I broke an antique tea cup of my mum's and then lied and told her the cat did it."

Sirius faked a gasp. "That's appalling," he said primly. "You should be ashamed of yourself."

"Oh, I am," Elysa agreed.

They were silent for a few moments. "Seriously, though?" Sirius asked at last.

Elysa thought for a while. Then she began to speak.

"Well… last summer – that is, the summer before last – I was in France with my relatives and my cousin Claude broke into the liquor cabinet and so a whole bunch of us got drunk… our parents were out on the terrace, and the villa is so large, see, they didn't notice. My cousin Marine from Algiers had her boyfriend Armand there with her, he was nineteen, I think… well, anyway, the two of us got drunk along with the rest and ended up making out… of course, the next morning he realized what had happened and he told Marine… she was bloody furious; swearing at me in French and Arabic… well, I felt awful, of course. It was the first time I'd ever really been drunk, for starters, and look what had happened? I lied and told her Armand had lied to her about what had happened… she believed me, seeing as she had no reason not to; I was one of the more innocent, honest cousins, see… but then she got furious at Armand, saying he'd lied to her, etc... they ended up breaking up, and he went back to Algiers… then Marine was all sad and soppy because she had really loved him, and everything. I felt awful. And this whole time, none of the adults knew what had really happened because nobody was about to tell them how we'd broken into the liquor cabinet, even though some of my cousins do it nearly every night and I'm sure some of the adults aren't as clueless as they let on…" Elysa stopped for breath. "Well, anyway, Armand was furious at me, up until he left, at least, and Marine was mad at him, and the whole thing was just really bad… but then, I guess that was only like the first few weeks of summer; by August, things had calmed down again and Marine was mostly over him."

Sirius barked out a laugh. He couldn't help it. "That's appalling. Did you ever tell her the truth?" Under his chin, Elysa shook her head.

"No. I apologized to Armand, though… he and Marine got back together, and he came up to France in August this past summer. He and Marine are engaged now, actually. But anyway, I told him I was very sorry about what had happened and he said it was okay because everything worked out in the end, and so on. I don't know if he told Marine about what I did. I sort of doubt it, though, because he probably figured it was best to let sleeping dogs lie…"

Sirius barked out a laugh again. "Wow. You are less innocent that I thought." She turned her face toward him, and he kissed her.

After a few minutes of that, Elysa said, "So, how about you? What is the _worst_ thing you've ever done?"

Sirius laughed uncomfortably. "Um… it's a bit worse than making out with my cousin's boyfriend," he said.

"Is it?" Elysa asked curiously, her head tilted to one side.

Sirius nodded. Then he sighed and buried his face in her hair. He did not like talking about this, but he dearly wanted Elysa to know it.

"Well," he began, "you are familiar with Severus Snape, yes?"

Elysa nodded. "He was hitting on me the other day."

"_He was?_ That slimy–"

Elysa cut him off. "Don't worry about it; I just sort of rolled my eyes a few times and he went away."

"Good," said Sirius, nodding. "Well, anyway, in fifth year, I… I played a trick on Snape that probably… probably… well, he probably would have died if Prongs – that is to say, James – hadn't saved him…" Sirius trailed off. He took a deep breath.

"Sorry," he continued softly. "It's sort of an uncomfortable topic."

Elysa turned to stare at him. "What did you do?" she asked.

Sirius looked out across the lake. "I told him… I told him that if he prodded a certain knob on the Whomping Willow, he could get inside of it," Sirius said.

"What, and he almost died trying to prod the knob?" Elysa asked.

Sirius shook his head slowly. "No… see, below the Whomping Willow, there's this secret passage that goes to the Shrieking Shack in Hogsmeade. If Snape had gotten all the way to the Shrieking Shack, he… well, he wouldn't have lived. But James heard what I'd done and ran after him, pulled him back, and saved his life. I felt… I don't know. Now I feel sort of guilty. I don't know exactly what came over me that gave me the idea that nearly killing Snape was… justifiable…" he trailed off, still staring across the lake.

Elysa looked thoughtful. She opened her mouth, but then closed it as if reconsidering. "Did you ever apologize?" she asked at last.

Sirius shook his head. "No."

"Did you ever want to?" Elysa asked.

Sirius did not answer for a while. Then he said, "Well… no, not really. I was sort of wrapped up in my own personal issues – you know, the whole family thing – at the time. And by the time I was at peace with that… well, more or less at peace with that… the whole thing felt sort of like a dream."

Elysa leaned back into his chest. "Well, I forgive you," she said shortly. Sirius turned away from the lake to look down at her. For some reason, her words made him feel far calmer than he had felt in years.

"Do you really?" he whispered. He suddenly felt as if he wanted to cry – not cry hard, mind you, but he did feel his eyes moisten a bit.

Elysa nodded up at him and smiled, her face full of adoration. "Yep," she said.

Sirius leaned down and kissed her. "You have no idea how relieved that makes me feel," he remarked. Then he laughed. "God, whenever I'm around you I always start speaking in clichés…"

Elysa smiled at him and laughed. Then they started making out, and all other discussion ceased.

* * *

Voldemort's first major killing appeared in the _Daily Prophet _toward the end of November. By this time, Remus had forced himself to move on from Elysa Fauchelevent – more or less. When a blonde sixth year named Acacia showed an interest in him, Remus went ahead and asked her out, hoping to jolt himself out of his Elysa fixation. 

Distressingly, Sirius and Elysa seemed nowhere close to tiring of one another; in fact, they were growing noticeably more intimate by the day. It was now commonplace to see the two sitting together by the fire, Sirius perhaps helping Elysa on her potions homework, or (and this was far more likely) kissing her while she tried to do her potions homework, causing her to push him away with a laugh and say, "Good grief, I'm trying to work here!" She would then give him a mischievous look and say flirtatiously, "Patience is a virtue, young Sirius."

This always made Sirius grin.

Acacia was in Ravenclaw. She was a sweet girl with large blue eyes and a pleasant, round face. Her cheeks were a natural blush color. Though nowhere near as beautiful as Elysa, she definitely qualified as pretty in a very British way. Acacia's parents were muggles from Sussex. She was the first person in her family to ever have been deemed a witch.

Remus didn't mind spending time with Acacia; she was smart, after all, and kind. All in all, she reminded Remus of his impression of Elysa before Elysa had become sexy and incredible. Despite this realization, Remus was not able to feel truly attracted to Acacia. It was a pity, because, if not for Elysa, Remus knew that Acacia was just the type of girl he would want to be dating. She clearly liked him a lot; Remus often felt guilty about accepting all of her affection, when inside he was pining for Elysa Fauchelevent.

The day of Voldemort's first attack was a Saturday, and Remus, Acacia, Sirius, and Elysa were having a double-date at The Three Broomsticks. Remus did not like double-dating with Sirius and Elysa. When he was alone with Acacia, he was able to relax and force himself to concentrate solely on her, but when Elysa Fauchelevent was sitting right across the table from him, her dark eyes sparkling and her beautiful hair twisted messily up so that several wavy strands fell free and hung about her lovely face, it was very hard to think about Acacia at all.

To make things even more aggravating, Sirius and Elysa were obviously at a level of intimacy far beyond that of Remus and Acacia. They seemed to always know what the other was going to say, and they were so much at ease with one another that they might as well have given off an aura of supreme contentedness, causing other diners to glance over at them and smile.

"Oh, by the way, Remus," Sirius said suddenly, "I saw something of yours in the common room yesterday."

"You did not!" Elysa shrieked, giggling. "It wasn't even funny when you noticed it the first time! I told you yesterday not to bother sharing your wit with him!"

"Well, maybe I was going to randomly change the subject before I got to that part!" Sirius retorted, grinning.

"I doubt it," said Elysa cheerfully, "but, regardless, I'd say you've already blown it, wouldn't you?"

Sirius shrugged. "Well, that depends…" He then seemed to notice Remus and Acacia, who were staring at him blankly.

"Don't listen to him; he's raving," Elysa said to them in a stage whisper.

"Ooookay," said Remus.

"Right…" said Acacia.

Elysa and Sirius burst out laughing. Diners glanced over at them in annoyance, but then smiled. After all, how often do you see a beautiful couple so obviously happy with one another?

"Sorry…" Elysa choked at last. "Let's change the subject, shall we?"

"Please do," Remus said, rolling his eyes and trying to sound as annoyed as possible. He didn't need to try very hard; he _was_ annoyed. He just had to make it sound theatrical enough to fool Elysa. He would never, ever say anything cruel to her.

On that Saturday in The Three Broomsticks, news of Voldemort's first murders spread through town like wildfire. A man suddenly burst into the pub, out of breath. He hurried to the counter and held a quick conversation with Madam Rosemerta, who let loose a great gasp of horror, covering her mouth with her hands. Remus noticed; he craned his neck toward them, trying to see what was going on. Sirius, his arm around Elysa's shoulders, noticed where Remus was looking and turned toward the bar.

By this point, many of the diners were glancing over. The man gave an uncomfortable look around. The bar had grown silent. "What's up, Crowley?" a man seated nearby asked.

The man named Crowley took a slow breath. "There has been a murder," he said.

Everyone took in their breath and began whispering to one another, stopping a moment later to look back at Crowley. "The McCormicks down in Sheffield… all six of them, the parents, the grandmother… the three little kids… all of them, murdered," Crowley said, shakily but clearly. He held up a copy of the _Daily Prophet_, at the top of which was printed "EXTRA! EXTRA!" Below this was the headline – "Six murdered in grisly massacre" – and below that a sub-heading – "Wizard fancying self 'Lord Voldemort' claims responsibility" – and finally, a large black-and-white photograph of a twinkling skull with a snake coming out of its mouth, floating in the sky over a large manor.

Everybody stared at the paper. "There's a whole stack of 'em outside," Crowley said lamely.

Instantly, everyone was abuzz with action. "I'll go get one," Sirius announced calmly. He stood up, his arm sliding off of Elysa's shoulders. He disappeared into the crowd at the door, but returned a minute later, a thin copy of the paper grasped in his hands.

"Let's see it, then," said Remus.

Sirius dropped the newspaper on the table and sat down. Elsa pulled the paper toward her and began to read aloud to them.

"The wizard fancying himself 'Lord Voldemort' has claimed responsibility for an attack that left six people, including three children, brutally murdered, Magical Law Enforcement Spokeswoman Portia Adams announced at 1:35 p.m. today.

"'Right now, we are asking the magical community to remain calm,' Adams said.

"The attack occurred at roughly midnight last night, though the victims were not discovered until 9:00 this morning, when a neighbor, glancing out of her kitchen window, saw an enormous skull hovering over the house.

"'She contacted authorities immediately,' Adams said. 'We were on the scene within fifteen minutes.'

"The six victims were of the McCormick family near Sheffield, and include father Oswald McCormick, his wife Linda McCormick, and his mother, the well-known Carla McCormick. The McCormick's three children, Kathleen, 10, Otto, 8, and Sharon, 3, were also pronounced dead.

"'This is an absolutely appalling crime that will not go unpunished,' Adams said.

"The victims were murdered using the Unforgivable Curse 'Avada Kadavra,' according to Adams. Use of the curse by one human being upon another is enough to land the user a life sentence in Azkaban.

"Any person with information leading to Voldemort's capture is asked to contact the Department of Magical Law Enforcement immediately."

Elysa stopped reading. She looked quite upset.

"That's awful," breathed Acacia, looking at the picture of the glistening skull.

Sirius and Remus, however, were looking at Elysa. Sirius slid his arm up and down her back soothingly. "What's up?" he asked gently.

Elysa turned to look at him. Though her eyes were not damp, she looked distressed. "I've met them," she said. "My parents are – were – friends with Mr. and Mrs. McCormick. I've been to their house a few times, actually. Their kids were really cute… God, I don't know how my mum and dad are going to take this…"

Sirius continued to rub Elysa's back soothingly. "Don't worry," he said, "they'll catch that Voldemort fellow and he'll get what he deserves."

Elysa looked back at the picture of the skull and shook her head slowly. "I don't know…" she said. "Something tells me it's not going to be that easy…"

She turned to look at Sirius again, her brow furrowed. "Sirius, do you remember what I told you about my family?"

"Sure," he said. "Which part?"

"The part about what they thought about this Voldemort fellow," she replied.

"Oh…" Sirius thought. Then he remembered: Elysa's relatives were worried that Voldemort was going to succeed in his goals and not be easy to stop once he got started.

Sirius nodded. "I remember," he said. "They were worried about Voldemort… they thought he was going to succeed in whatever he was trying to do."

Elysa nodded. "Sirius, my relatives are usually right," she said quietly. "I know nobody else in this pub thinks this is a huge deal – sad, sure, but nothing really significant – but, I'm almost positive it is."

Remus spoke up. "But how can you be certain?" he asked. "I mean, think about it, it's already in the press, and it's only been – what? – four hours? Five? This Voldemort fellow doesn't stand a chance against if Britain's entire wizarding population has its eyes out for him."

Elysa looked at him thoughtfully. Remus felt his heart catch in his throat. Even when distressed, she was beautiful.

"I don't think he's alone, though," Elysa informed him. "I think he has plenty of supporters. Sirius's cous – Bellatrix, I mean, she was talking to me about Voldemort once. She thought I should start supporting him or something… I cut her off before she could get very far. But she told me that what he wants is purity of the wizarding race, and I think lots of people are going to support that, especially if they can keep their identities hidden."

Remus looked at her skeptically. "I don't think too many people are okay with killing innocent children," he remarked.

"Yeah, I used to think that, too," Elysa said, and a ghost of a smile flitted across her perfect lips, "but I listen to my family, Remus, and when they think something's up, they're usually right."

Acacia looked at Elysa curiously. "Is your family really as they say it is?" she asked.

Elysa smiled slightly. "I'm not sure; what do they say?" she asked.

Acacia shrugged. "Well, that the Fauchelevents are the oldest wizarding family in Europe… that they… I don't know… that they're really loyal and influential and… stuff," Acacia finished lamely.

"Yeah, that's about right," Elysa admitted calmly.

"That's cool," Acacia remarked. "You are really lucky."

Elysa smiled, and under the table she squeezed Sirius's thigh, causing him to sit straighter than he had before.

"I suppose I am," Elysa agreed. Then she shrieked as Sirius squeezed her thigh back.

"Are you that ticklish?" Sirius asked, laughing.

"No, of course not!" Elysa exclaimed, trying to push him away. Sirius squeezed her thigh again, and she shrieked again, burst into laughter, and buried her face in his chest. Sirius couldn't help but laugh himself as Elysa wrapped her arms around his torso and held on, still giggling, her cheek pressed against his sweater over his heart.

Remus watched Elysa with amusement mingled with jealousy of Sirius. He worked hard to keep his expression weighted toward "amusement." Acacia, too, looked amused. She turned to smile at Remus, but he didn't notice, as he was still watching Elysa, who, upon having had her thigh squeezed a third time under the table by Sirius, had started giggling so hard that she was beginning to cry. She leaned up and kissed Sirius on the cheek. He responded by turning his head and kissing her on the lips.

Remus now felt uncomfortable, as well as still envious. He looked away, and, finally noticing Acacia smiling at him hopefully, smiled back. He slid his arm around her and felt Acacia give a little shiver of pleasure. She rested her head on his shoulder and leaned back to watch Sirius and Elysa resolve their conflict.

Now they were simply laughing at one another, and the pub, as if spurred on by Sirius's and Elysa's antics, was no longer awash in the horrified silence it has commenced upon news of the murder. People were talking and joking amongst themselves once more.

Finally, Sirius slid his arm back around Elysa, and kissed her forehead, and she in turn sank back into her seat, her face flushed from laughter, and glanced across the table at Remus and Acacia, who were watching her in amusement.

"Anyway…" she said.

* * *

Yay! Reviews! 

dixio - thanks! I will!

tresdrole- I will!

Hershey Gurl - Hmm.. love triangle... well, he _is _going to keep lusting after her for a while, so yeah, I suppose you could call it a love triangle. Haha, I don't _really_ travel to that many places; all I really ever do is visit my relatives. They mostly live in Europe, so yeah, I go there most summers, but it's mostly restricted to countries in which I have family. Whatever; I guess it is _sorta_ lucky. >>_blushes slightly and shrugs>>_

COMING UP (A/N: I'm going to start saying what's coming up cuz it's already written and I feel like telling you):

A new full moon adventure is planned; Sirius wants to tell Elysa about the whole Animagus thing; everyone heads home for the holidays; Voldemort kills some more people; and lots of bitty things happen that you'll have to read to appreciate!

Please review! >>_puppy dog eyes_>> I LOVE getting reviews and the more I get, the sooner I update!

-Potpoury


	6. Home Again

**A/N: **My computer messed up and to make a long story short, this story got deleted. I figure I'll repost a chapter every two to three days until I'm all caught up to Chapter 16, at which point I'll have already finished writing Chapters 17-and-beyond. Sorry if you've already read this stuff, but I figure you can cope.

**Summary:** Lupin notices the date and sits down to reminisce (that's about half a page). Then it's the tale of his 7th year and beyond, complete with new characters, old characters, and one hell of a lot more.

**Disclaimer:** whatever.

* * *

The week before Christmas vacation, Sirius realized that he wanted Elysa to know that he was an animagus. There was no rush, however, and besides, Sirius was not sure if there was an elegant way to bring up the subject. (Saying, "Oh you look lovely today and by the way I'm an animagus," seemed a tad awkward.) In the end he decided that, if the appropriate topic came up beforehand, he would tell her. 

As coincidence would have it, the topic came up that very weekend. It was Saturday morning, and Elysa was leaving that afternoon to go and spend the holidays with her family in Kent. Sirius was leaving, too, to spend Christmas at James's house.

Sirius and Elysa had gone for a walk in Hogsmeade, which was all decked out in wreaths and holly, in preparation for the two weeks they were about to spend apart. Eventually, they came upon the Shrieking Shack.

Elysa stopped to look at it. "Is it really haunted?" she asked.

Sirius shrugged. "Um…"

Elysa turned to look at him. "You said that time that if Snape had gotten into the Shrieking Shack, he would have died. Why?"

Sirius looked into her dark eyes. Now was the time to tell her everything. He took a breath. "Lysie," he said quietly, "can you keep a secret?" She gave him a look. Sirius rolled his eyes. "I know you don't go blabbing about the stuff I tell you, but this is really something that nobody can know."

She gazed into his lovely gray eyes. "Okay," she agreed. She paused. "Is it awful?" she asked cheerfully.

He smiled. "Not too awful… um, let's sit down, shall we?"

Elysa raised one eyebrow. "Sure," she agreed, her voice curious. They walked over to a large rock which was free of the thin layer of snow that had fallen the night before.

"Lysie," Sirius began, looking at the shack, "basically, the Shrieking Shack's not really haunted. Really, it was built for a… a werewolf. They – he – goes there every month when he needs to transform, and that way he doesn't hurt anybody."

Elysa looked steadily at him. "Are you a werewolf, Sirius?" she asked.

Sirius stared at her blankly.

"Because if you are, I honestly do not care in the least," she added.

Sirius barked out a laugh. "No, I'm not," he said, smiling. "It's someone else…"

Elysa's expression had not changed. "Who?" she asked clearly.

Sirius looked at her for a few moments. Then he said, "Remus."

Elysa took in a sharp breath of realization. "_Of course_… I always vaguely thought that there was something about him… never out loud, or anything, but a few times I noticed he was always sick once a month, and…" she trailed off. They didn't say anything for a moment or two. Then Elysa said, "Huh. I feel quite bad for him. Is he allowed to know that I know, or no?"

Sirius laughed slightly at her frequent repetition of the sound "no." Then he said, "I'll let him know that I told you… hmm, I hope he's not angry."

Elysa shrugged. "Why would he be angry? Well, actually, I see why, but… just tell him I don't care in the least, that it hasn't altered my feelings toward him at all, and that I won't tell a soul."

Sirius smiled. "I'll do just that."

Elysa leaned against him for warmth, and Sirius put his arm around her. "There's something else," he said suddenly.

Elysa turned her head to look at him. "What?"

Sirius paused. "Well… see, when James and Peter and I figured out that Remus was a werewolf, we… we decided to… to make things easier for him," Sirius said, his voice calm. "So we became animagi."

Elysa gaped at him. "Are you bloody serious, Sirius?"

Sirius smiled slightly. "Quite bloody serious."

Elysa grinned. "Wow… that's so… illegal. And cool. And… however did you manage it? It's supposed to be really difficult!"

Sirius smiled back at her. "It's not really that hard, once you get the right ingredients for the potion and everything," he said. "It took us the best part of three years to work out how to do it. But then, in the beginning of fifth year, we managed it."

Elysa continued to grin, still looking shocked. "Well, what animal can you become, then?" she asked.

Sirius smiled. "I'll show you."

Elysa laughed. "Are you completely serious, Sirius?" she asked.

"Completely serious," he replied seriously. He stood up and walked over to stand in front of her. They were shielded by a stand of evergreens from anybody who might come wandering by.

"Watch closely," Sirius instructed. Elysa watched him, her eyes riveted on his face.

A moment later, Sirius had vanished. In his place was an enormous black dog, which trotted up to Elysa, wagging its tail.

Elysa shrieked in shock. "_Mon dieu_!" she exclaimed. "That is so incredibly cool, Sirius!"

The black dog licked her hand. "Keep your tongue to yourself," Elysa said, pulling her hand away and laughing.

A moment later, the dog had disappeared, and it was Sirius standing in front of her once more. He was grinning.

Elysa stood up, still laughing in shock and amazement, and kissed him fully on the lips. They wrapped their arms around one another and stood there, hugging in the shallow snow.

Then Elysa, her arms still around Sirius's middle, titled her head up to look into his face. "That is truly amazing, Sirius," she said. He kissed her once, ever so gently. Then Elysa asked, "So what can James and Peter become?"

"James is a stag. Peter is a rat," Sirius recited. Elysa grinned at him and kissed him again.

"Wow. I never realized what a turn-on this was to you," Sirius remarked. "I might have told you sooner…"

Elysa smiled and leaned her face again his chest, her cheek once again pressed into his sweater over his heart. "So is that how you got your nicknames?" she asked, gazing off at the Shrieking Shack across the snow. "Moony, Wormtail, Prongs… and you're Padfoot?"

"Yep," Sirius replied.

"Wow." Elysa looked back up at him and they kissed some more, standing there in the silent snow.

* * *

Remus spent a pleasant holiday with his parents, his great aunt Ianthe, and his mother's favorite cousin, Leticia. After Christmas, Remus received an owl from James, asking him if he wanted to apparate (or, if he thought it was too far away to do so safely, take the floo network) down to the Potters' manner in Devon. Remus, who was currently at Great Aunt Ianthe's house near Glasgow, decided that the floo network was probably much safer, considering that he had only been able to apparate for nine months now, as well as that traveling across the country by means of apparition could have nasty results if one was not careful. 

So it was that Remus stumbled out of the Potters' kitchen fireplace on the 27th of December.

"Why, hello, mate!" James, who was sitting at the kitchen table eating a bowl of porridge, said cheerfully. "Fancy seeing you here…"

Sirius, who had just come down the back staircase, entered the room. "Hello, Moony!" he remarked. "We were wondering when you'd find your way down here…"

Remus brushed himself off and sat down at the table. "I figured I'd not risk splincing myself and just go by floo powder," he said by way of explanation. "Is it just the two of you here?"

James nodded. "Our dear friend Wormtail is trapped in Shrewsbury with his grandparents, so we won't be seeing him until school starts up again."

Remus nodded. "Pity… well, how was your Christmas?"

"Lovely," said Sirius casually, spooning himself some porridge and sitting down opposite Remus and James. "And yours?"

Remus smiled. "Entertaining enough. You wouldn't believe the spells my great aunt puts on her house… and her house elf's mad; it's completely enamored with her…"

James nodded pleasantly. "Well, my parents are somewhere…"

His mother walked into the room just then. "Why, hello, Remus!" she exclaimed. "It's lovely to see you! How are you? How is your dear mother?"

Remus smiled. "We're both fine, and you?" he replied cheerfully.

"Fine, fine… dear, would you like some porridge? The house elf just made it this morning…"

Remus quite enjoyed his stay at James's house. For one thing, it was surrounded by fields and a forest, meaning that there was plenty of space to fly around on one of the many broomsticks the Potters owned. Remus, Sirius, and James spent the majority of the week remaining until term resumed flying about beneath the cloudy winter sky.

On the Wednesday before they were return to Hogwarts, Voldemort committed his second major murder. This time, it was two sisters, both muggle-born, who were living together near Manchester. The pair of them had been highly involved in muggle relations and were advocates for increasing the number of muggle students accepted into wizarding schools.

The evening paper carried a large picture of the two sisters, both very pretty and kind-looking, beside a picture of that skull floating over their house. The headline read, "Voldemort strikes again."

James's parents looked very disturbed by the news. "It's awful, simply awful," Mrs. Potter murmured, her eyes zipping over the article.

Afterward, Remus got hold of the paper and sat down to read the article for himself.

"The wizard fancying himself 'Lord Voldemort' has committed a second homicide, according to Ministry of Magic Auror Spokesman Lamont Fitzpatrick.

"'It is now crucial that we apprehend Voldemort,' Fitzpatrick said.

"The two victims of the attack were sisters Elena and Elfrida Ginsburg of Manchester. The two Miss Ginsburgs were well-known for their work in muggle relations and their advocacy for greater muggle acceptance rates at magical schools.

"'This is just tragic,' Fitzpatrick said.

"Aurors are now working full-time in to track down Voldemort.

"'We hope to catch up with him soon,' Fitzpatrick said, adding, 'We do have several good leads.'

"The Ginsburgs, as in the case of the McCormicks four weeks ago, were murdered using the curse 'Avada Kadavra.' Use of this curse is unforgivable, and insures the user a life-sentence in Azkaban.

"Anybody with information leading to Voldemort's capture is asked to contact the Ministry of Magic Auror office."

"Well, he's moved from the Magical Law Enforcement Office general to the Auror Office," Remus remarked. He glanced at Sirius. "Maybe Elysa was right about him…"

Sirius did not respond at first. Then he said, "Maybe." He picked up the newspaper and studied the skull floating over the Ginsburg flat.

* * *

Reviews! 

tulips car - thank you! Haha, I will.

tall fry - aw, thanks!

Katie - thank you! Will they ever get together? Hmm, that remains to be seen...

COMING UP:

Laments over Acacia; Sirius tells James and Remus that he told Elysaabout you-know-what; everyone heads back to King's Cross; Voldemort's latest murders are discussed; and much much more!

Oh, and please take thirty seconds out of your busy schedule to review! ...please? ;)


	7. A Reunion at King's Cross

**A/N: **My computer messed up and to make a long story short, this story got deleted. I figure I'll repost a chapter every two to three days until I'm all caught up to Chapter 16, at which point I'll have already finished writing Chapters 17-and-beyond. Sorry if you've already read this stuff, but I figure you can cope.

**Summary:** Lupin notices the date and sits down to reminisce (that's about half a page). Then it's the tale of his 7th year and beyond, complete with new characters, old characters, and one hell of a lot more.

**Disclaimer:** whatever.

* * *

It snowed very little in the coming days, as the Potter manner was quite near the sea, but they did get a few inches on the last day before the trip back to Hogwarts. "No flying today," James remarked, glancing out of his bedroom window at the white fields and still-falling snow. "No reason to get cold outside when you can stay warm inside, eh?" 

Sirius smiled slightly. "That is a lovely philosophy, Prongs. You should write a book."

James laughed. "Perhaps I shall…"

Remus rolled his eyes. "Wow. You two are so witty, I can hardly stand it," he remarked.

Sirius and James pretended to look hurt. "Gosh, Moony! We… do… try…" James whimpered, sticking out his lower lip and tracing the path of a tear down his cheek with a finger.

"Way to illustrate his point, Prongs," Sirius groaned, putting on an air of extreme annoyance.

James grinned. "Well, like I said, I try."

Remus smiled.

"Say, Moony," James remarked, "have you talked to Acacia at all this break?"

Remus shrugged. "Well, no… I sent her a Christmas present, though… and a 'thank you' for the one she sent me…"

James nodded. "'Twill do," he agreed. He tilted his head to the side to look at Remus more closely. "So, um, what exactly is the deal with you two? Think it's going anywhere?"

Again, Remus shrugged. "I don't know… she's nice, but…" he trailed off.

"She's quite pretty," said Sirius fairly.

"Yes, and remember, he's dating Elysa Fauchelevent; when he says somebody is pretty, you can bet he knows what he's talking about," James added helpfully.

Sirius threw a pillow at James.

"Well… it's true," James said, ducking. "I mean, Elysa Fauchelevent is probably the hottest girl in the entire school… except for Lily, of course."

Now, Sirius rolled his eyes. "Ah. Speaking of Lily Evans, how much closer are you to getting her to go out with you?"

"Oh, it's only a matter of time," James said matter-of-factly. "Her defenses are weakening, I just _know_ it."

Remus laughed. "Well, good luck there…"

James turned back to Sirius. "What's Elysa doing over term? Maybe we should invite her down here."

"I'd agree, but we're going back to school tomorrow; what's the point," Sirius replied.

"Ah," said James, nodding. "Good point… but what's she up to, anyway? Seeing relatives?"

Sirius nodded. "Yeah, she's with her family in Kent. Probably just her immediate family, though… they don't go to France in the winter."

James nodded thoughtfully.

Remus did not like it when the conversation turned to Elysa Fauchelevent. He liked thinking about her, sure, but whenever other people talked about her it was hard for him to keep up the appearance of being passive.

Sirius cleared his throat slightly. "Um, actually," he said, "This is sort of important… I told Elysa about us being animagi…"

James whipped around to stare at him. "You _what_?"

Sirius stared right back at him. "I told her we were animagi."

James looked aghast. "_Why_?"

Sirius didn't break his gaze. "I wanted her to know. And anyway, the topic came up. Look, I know you don't entirely appreciate how much I care for Lysie, but I can guarantee you that she won't tell a soul."

James looked at Sirius thoughtfully. "Well, I suppose there's no going back now," he remarked. "So… okay. She knows. What was her reaction?"

Sirius smiled slightly. "She thought it was brilliant. And… yeah, you can guess where it went from there."

James grinned. "Perhaps I should tell Lily… maybe it'll be a turn-on for her, too."

Remus suddenly realized something. "Wait, Sirius… did you tell her about me, too?"

Sirius turned to look at his friend, his gaze steady. He nodded.

Remus felt his heart sink in his chest. This was the very last thing he wanted Elysa Fauchelevent to know. Oh, there was no hope for them now! How was Remus supposed to eventually win Elysa's heart if she already knew he was a werewolf?

"How... how did she react?" he asked stiffly.

Sirius smiled. "Oh, I actually have this memorized: she said to tell you that she doesn't mind in the least, that it doesn't at all change the way she feels about you, and that… crap, what was the third thing?" He paused, and then said, "Oh, right: that she won't tell a soul."

Remus felt his heart rise back up again. Elysa was so wonderful.

Then he felt his heart sink once more. _Fuck_. If Elysa didn't care in the least about Remus's condition, there was no more reason for Remus to convince himself that Sirius going out with Elysa was okay. Now he would simply have to hide his feelings.

* * *

Back at the train station the next day, Remus, James, and Sirius were waiting to get on board the Hogwarts Express. Elysa Fauchelevent entered through the archway onto Platform 9 ¾. James spotted her first. "Why, look who it is…" he began, smiling. 

Sirius turned around at the same time that Elysa spotted him. Grinning, they came toward one another. "Why look; there's Wormtail!" James remarked to Remus, pulling him off toward Peter. He whispered, "I'd love to stay and watch those two, but let's be good friends and give them a vague sense of privacy…"

Sirius and Elysa, however, would not have noticed had Remus and James been standing right beside them. They were lost in their own little world. As soon as they reached one another, Elysa jumped into Sirius's arms, and they stood there on the platform holding one another for a long moment.

When they pulled back, both of their eyes were shining. They stared at one another for another long moment. It had only been two weeks, but to both of them it felt much longer. Sirius gazed into Elysa's sparkling dark eyes and kissed her briefly on the lips. When they pulled back apart, Elysa, her hands on his chest, studied his face and leaned forward to whisper in his ear, "I really missed you."

Sirius laughed. "Likewise," he replied.

Hand in hand, they set off across the platform toward James, Remus, and Peter, describing their vacations in rapid speech. When Remus saw them, he was lost for words.

He, too, felt as if it had been ages since he had seen Elysa Fauchelevent. He had forgotten how beautiful she was. Today she was wearing a blue-and-white sweater and a dark gray jacket over jeans. She wore a white headband in her loose curls, which fell freely over her shoulders and down her back, and, as always, her eyes sparkled.

"Hello," said Elysa brightly. "Nippy weather, isn't it?"

It was indeed; as they stood there, snow began to fall softly out of the gray sky. Sirius slid his arm around Elysa's shoulders and pulled her closer to him. She slid her own arm across his back. They turned to smile at one another, both looking extremely content.

Once on the train, the five of them found a compartment and sat down. "So," remarked James, "how was your vacation, Elysa? How's the family?"

Elysa smiled slightly. "Just grand, of course…"

James tilted his head to the side. "Forgive me if I actually know the answer to this question, but how many siblings do you have?"

Again, Elysa smiled slightly. "Three," she replied briskly. "All younger."

"How old?" James prodded.

Elysa thought for a moment, and then said, "Roland's eleven… I think… wait, never mind, his birthday's on the 12th of January, so I guess he's still ten… Bianca's a year younger; she's nine. And Celeste is the youngest… she's two weeks short of being nine years younger than I am, so that means she's seven… and a half."

Sirius laughed. "You really don't know your own siblings' ages?"

Elysa looked rueful. "Do _you_?"

"Of course! Regulus is, like, fifteen or something!"

Elysa laughed. "No, actually, I know their ages. I just don't keep very close track; it takes a few seconds' thought."

Remus smiled. He really liked Elysa.

There was a knock on the frame of the compartment door, and Acacia stuck her head around the corner. "Knock, knock!" she called, smiling at Remus and looking somewhat shyly at the rest of them.

"Come in, come in!" said Sirius jovially. "There's always room for one more!"

Acacia made her way into the compartment and sat down on the bench next to Remus. He turned to smile at her, feeling very guilty for the fact that he really was not at all interested in her anymore. Acacia smiled back, and brushed his hand with hers.

"How was your vacation?" Remus asked, clearing his throat.

"Oh, it was loads of fun," Acacia said, still smiling. "I saw my brother and sister and my cousins Angie and Tyler… and, of course, they're all muggles so I had a great time explaining magic to them, andI showed them Exploding Snap and some Every-Flavor Beans…" She trailed off, still smiling at Remus.

Remus felt his stomach give a guilty flop. He glanced over at Sirius and Elysa, who were sitting on the bench opposite. Sirius had his arm around her, and Elysa's head rested on his shoulder. They were listening politely.

Just then, the whistle blew, and the train began to move. James pulled out a book on quidditch and Peter pulled out an essay he had yet to complete. Acacia hesitantly leaned against Remus and, without really thinking about it, he put his arm around her shoulder. Acacia smiled and closed her eyes. "Late night last night with the family," she yawned, closing her eyes. She was asleep within ten minutes. Remus glanced around the compartment.

Elysa was saying something to Sirius.

"Did you here about that latest murder?" she asked him.

Sirius nodded.

Elysa paused for a moment. Then she said, "My parents were worried. They got an owl from my aunt Cerise in France… apparently there's more going on than the press is letting on. _Tante _Cerise said to be really careful until all of this is over… _if_ it ends soon, that is. I didn't hear much more; my parents were just talking about it in the kitchen while I was out in the parlor playing exploding snap with Bea."

Sirius looked at her. "Do your relatives think it's going to go on much longer?" he asked quietly, "because really, Lys, that just doesn't seem logical…"

Elysa shrugged and looked back at him, speaking more softly now so that Remus had to strain to overhear. "I know," she murmured, "but _tante_ Cerise works for the French Ministry of Magic… she's an auror, actually. She hears things… and my uncle Taurean is in the French ministry, too… international relations… and cousin Simone is in the Swiss ministry… _oncle_ Yves is in the Polish ministry, though I'm not sure what he does; it's 'top secret'… and… well, look, Sirius, most of the countries in which I have relatives have those relatives as very important members of their governments. So when one of my relatives says something is up, they usually know what they're talking about."

Elysa glanced over at Lupin, who closed his eyes, though he wasn't sure why. Across the compartment, he heard Sirius say, "Well, Lys, don't worry about anything; it doesn't do any good... and besides, I'm sure your family will be fine… it's _mine_ I'm more concerned about."

Remus opened his eyes slightly. Elysa's chin was on Sirius's shoulder, and she was gently tracing the contours of his face with a finger. As he watched, she leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. Then she said, almost in a whisper, "Sirius, really, don't worry about your family. Remember what I told you that time by the lake?"

Sirius turned his head quickly to look at her. Elysa, for her part, looked concerned. "I love you," Sirius murmured, so quietly that Remus only knew what he was saying by watching his lips. Elysa smiled, and Sirius kissed her.

Remus did not want them to start making out right in from of him. That would be too painful. He heaved a great yawn and stretched, causing Sirius and Elysa to look over at him, and Acacia to groan slightly in her sleep.

James looked up from his book briefly, before turning back. He did not seem to notice nor care what Sirius and Elysa did.

Remus glanced back across the compartment. Sirius said to Elysa cheerfully, "Look here: why don't we go find a different compartment? There're _bound_ to be plenty of empty ones on this train; plenty of people stayed at school over the holidays."

Elysa grinned and stood up, stretching. "Alright," she agreed. Sirius, suddenly invigorated, leapt to his feet and took hold of Elysa's hand. "See you later," he said to James, Peter, and Remus. Elysa was smiling.

"Mmm… have fun," James remarked idly, not looking up.

As Sirius and Elysa left the compartment, Remus saw them slide their arms around one another. As soon as they disappeared from view, James glanced up from his book and grinned at Remus. "Ah, young love," he said, shaking his head pityingly.

Peter, looking up from his essay, laughed. "Well, I do hope they have a good time," he remarked, grinning.

"I'm sure they will," said James matter-of-factly. Then he laughed again before turning back to his book.

Remus forced out a few feeble chuckles. Then he turned to look out the window at the snow-covered countryside. Acacia was now leaning against the wall beside the window, as Remus had let go of her during his fake yawn-and-stretch procedure. Remus found that he didn't really care.

He sat back and tried not to think about what Sirius and Elysa were doing in their compartment.

* * *

Reviews! 

bubonicweasley - wow, I don't think I've ever been more flattered! I'll keep it up; don't you worry!

Baby Dreamer - um, okay... sorry for your troubles...

tall fry - glad you like the story! I will!

COMING UP:

Four words: "Romance on the Train." That's the name of Chapter 8 and it's probably my favorite chapter in the story... lots of fluff, but _meaningful _fluff... seriously, it's fun. ;D Keep your eyes open for it!

Hugs and kisses,

Potpoury


	8. Romance on the Train

**A/N: **My computer messed up and to make a long story short, this story got deleted. I figure I'll repost a chapter every two to three days until I'm all caught up to Chapter 16, at which point I'll have already finished writing Chapters 17-and-beyond. Sorry if you've already read this stuff, but I figure you can cope. 

**Summary:** Lupin notices the date and sits down to reminisce (that's about half a page). Then it's the tale of his 7th year and beyond, complete with new characters, old characters, and one hell of a lot more.

**Disclaimer:** whatever.

Yay! This is my favorite chapter in the story! Enjoy...

* * *

Sirius and Elysa had a harder time than they had anticipated finding an empty compartment. Their entire car was full, and it was not until they had come to nearly the end of the next one that they spotted a compartment without occupants.

Sirius steered Elysa inside. Then he slid the door shut and turned the little knob that locked it.

Elysa stood by, grinning. "Well, this is typical," she remarked. "How many couples do you reckon are doing the same thing as we are?"

Sirius shrugged. "I don't know… twenty? Fifty?" He heaved a huge, fake sigh. "Oh, we are so un-unique…" He shook his head in mock pity.

Elysa giggled, put her arms around him, and kissed him. Sirius, while still kissing her back, got Elysa down onto the compartment bench. Elysa sat on his lap, her legs straddling his waist. The kept kissing. Elysa's white headband was getting mused and so she raised one hand to her hair to pull it off.

Sirius slid his hands, which were gripping Elysa's waist, under her sweater. She gave a sound of surprise and pulled back. "Wait," she said.

Sirius smiled politely at her. "Well, I was just thinking, seeing as you have to change into your school robes at some point _anyway_…"

Elysa laughed. "I was just going to say that your hands are cold," she replied. "Warm them up before you start doing that, please."

Sirius laughed, too, and kissed her. Then he put his hands to his mouth, blew on them, rubbed them together, and said to Elysa, "Happy?"

"Quite." She took his hands in hers and put them back on her waist, under her sweater.

Things went along from there. When they were both topless (though Elysa still had her bra on) Sirius wanted to keep going. He started sliding his hands down her pants. At this point, however, Elysa said, "Don't, Sirius."

He stopped at once, and slid his hands back up to stroke her back. "Okay… but, out of curiosity, _when_ are we going to–"

Elysa cut him off. "I don't know… when we – _I _– am ready."

"Okay," Sirius agreed softly. He kissed her neck and kissed her stomach and then there was a knock on the compartment door.

"_Shit_," Elysa murmured, glancing toward it and reaching for her sweater.

"Who is it?" Sirius called, completely unperturbed, as he continued to kiss Elysa.

"Food trolley," a cheerful witch's voice called back. "Would you care to buy any lunch?"

"Um, okay!" Elysa called back, her voice muffled as Sirius kissed her lower lip. She pushed him away, giggling.

"One moment!"

Outside in the corridor, the witch rolled her eyes. This was at least the twentieth compartment make out session she had interrupted. Ah, adolescents…

Inside the compartment, Elysa pulled on her sweater. Sirius sat back, his bare muscular chest shining. "_Put something on_," Elysa whispered.

Sirius grinned at her. He wouldn't have cared if the witch had walked in right in the middle of their making out; Sirius was not one to be embarrassed easily. Besides, the witch surely knew what they were doing; she had probably interrupted dozens of other couples on her route down the train.

Elysa made a _tsk_ sound with her tongue. She stood in front of Sirius with her hands on her hips, shaking her head slowly. "Have you no shame?" she said, trying very hard not to laugh.

"Very little," Sirius admitted, crossing his arms nonchalantly. His eyes moved up and down, looking Elysa over. "You look really nice," he remarked.

Elysa giggled. "Thank you."

Sirius smiled.

"Put this on," Elysa instructed, reaching down to the floor and picking up his shirt, which she then tossed to him.

There was a more persistent knock on the compartment door. "Hello?" the witch called, rolling her eyes again.

"Coming!" Elysa called toward the door. Then she turned back to Sirius. "Oh, stop being such an exhibitionist! Just put the damn thing on!"

Sirius grinned at her and slid the shirt over his head. Elysa couldn't help but smile; his grin was somewhat infectious, especially to her.

She slid open the compartment door. "Sorry, hi!" she said to the witch.

The witch took in her rumpled clothing and mused hair without letting anything on; the last four compartments had opened to show people looking like this, too.

"Anything off the cart?" the witch asked, smiling pleasantly.

"Um, sure..." Elysa quickly looked over the cart. Sirius came up behind her, sliding his arm casually around her waist.

"Why, hello, Miss Valerie!" he said pleasantly to the witch with the food cart.

She looked up at him. Oh, it was that damn Sirius Black… she knew him, of course. He was always so charming; he had asked her name his first time on the train, six years ago when he was a first year. He had been in a compartment with a group of other boys, and after she served them their food, he had said, "I'm sorry, what's your name, ma'am?"

She had replied briskly, yet cheerfully, as her job entailed, "You can call me Miss Valerie."

He had nodded pleasantly. "Well, thank you very much for the food, Miss Valerie," he said, smiling winningly.

"You are very welcome," she had replied, but then she frowned. "If you think this'll get you another two chocolate frogs, I'm afraid you're wrong," she had added.

Sirius Black had put on a pleading look. "Oh, come on, Miss Valerie… we'll pay you back next time we're on the train; we only need two more to get four each!"

His argument was ridiculous, but heaven help her, she gave in. "Well, alright," she had said, smiling despite herself, as she handed over two more frogs. "But don't expect to get away with this ever again…"

He had bowed his head graciously. "Of course not."

He had, thought, quite a few more times.

Miss Valerie had always been taken in by courteous people; it was her main weakness. She came to look forward to seeing Sirius Black on the Hogwarts Express, as he was always polite and friendly, with perhaps a, "How was your summer, Miss Valerie?" or "Have a nice Christmas, Miss Valerie?"

After she learned his name, probably during either the away or return trip of Christmas break of his first year, she began saying hello to him, too. "Anything off the trolley, dears? And what'll it be for you, Mr. Black?"

When Miss Valerie's niece, Peggy, had started at Hogwarts two years later, she had always hoped that Peggy would end up with Sirius. Sadly, however, this never seemed close to happening, as Peggy was a quiet, not-particularly-attractive Hufflepuff whom Sirius did not know existed.

Starting in about fourth year, Miss Valerie had seen Sirius Black with a different girl every train ride. She would also see Peggy, sitting alone or with one other quiet girl in a compartment, usually reading a book. Miss Valerie had never, ever voiced her unrealistic hopes regarding Sirius and Peggy to anyone, as she knew that they would only insult Peggy and her mother.

Miss Valerie had just run into her niece, who was sitting this time in a compartment with her equally-shy friend Grace, a few minute earlier. She worried about her Peggy, who was now fifteen and had yet to branch out socially. And now she saw Sirius Black again, with some beautiful girl or other, and she couldn't help but feel her hopes sink to even more unrealistic depths.

"Hello, Mr. Black," Miss Valerie said. "Anything off the cart?"

Sirius shrugged one shoulder, his arm still around the girl's waist, and said, "I'll have what she's having." He jerked his head toward the girl.

The beautiful girl – and she really _was_ beautiful, Miss Valerie realized, looked at her again – smiled slightly. "Right… then, two pumpkin pasties, two pumpkin juices… and, I don't know, some chocolate frogs," she said. She then glanced over at Sirius, who was smiling at her adoringly, and said, "You know, I think my mum actually packed me something; if you want we can go back to the other compartment and check–"

"I don't want to," Sirius replied cheerfully. "Let's just buy food and stay here, shall we?"

The girl couldn't help but grin. Then, evidently remembering that Miss Valerie was there, she blushed.

"I'll pay," Sirius added, still cheerful. He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out some coins. He paid and took the food. "Well, it was nice seeing you, Miss Valerie!" he said courteously, waving goodbye as he slid the compartment door shut.

"You, too, Mr. Black," she replied, smiling.

Then the compartment door slid shut with a click, and Miss Valerie moved on.

The moment the door was closed, Sirius stripped his shirt back off. Elysa rolled her eyes. "Aren't you even going to eat lunch first?"

Sirius shrugged. "I can eat with my top off. And come to that, so can you."

Elysa couldn't help but smile as Sirius came toward her. She raised her hands over her head, and he pealed her sweater back off, dropping it onto the floor. Then he put his arms around her and kissed her very, very passionately.

Elysa let him do that for a while; she quite enjoyed it. Then she pulled back, shaking her head and grinning, and said, "Can we eat lunch now?"

Sirius smiled sweetly. "Okay," he agreed. Elysa kissed him fondly on the cheek. Then she sat down on the compartment bench and unwrapped her pumpkin pasty.

Sirius sat down next to her and helped himself to his own food. "So, Lysie, are we going to get married?" he asked casually.

Elysa nearly choked on her food.

"Hmm… that's not a good sign," Sirius mused cheerfully, supremely unperturbed.

"No, no!" Elysa said, laughing. "I mean, of course we are! You just caught me off guard, that's all!"

Sirius lowered his pumpkin pasty to his lap and grinned at her. "Really?"

Elysa looked at him, her dark eyes sparkling. "Yes," she said primly.

Sirius gave a laugh of joy mingled with amusement. "Oh, good. So, can I call you my fiancée now, rather than my girlfriend?"

Elysa laughed. "No; that's too weird. Besides, we're only, like, sixteen and seventeen, respectively."

Sirius grinned. "I know… but seriously, Lys, I don't ever want to marry anybody else in the world other than you."

Elysa laughed again, feeling very content. "Likewise."

Sirius smiled. "Well, good; now that that's settled…" He picked up his pumpkin pasty and took a bite.

Elysa was still smiling at him, her pumpkin pasty momentarily forgotten. "I really missed you over break," she announced. Then she picked her food back up and began eating again.

Sirius swallowed his food and smiled at her. "What a coincidence; I missed you, too," he remarked. He paused for a moment, and then added, "Did I mention before that you look very nice without a shirt on?"

Elysa laughed. "Probably."

Sirius grinned. "Know what? I'll bet you'll look even better without pants on, either."

Elysa rolled her eyes. "We've been through this, Sirius."

"Right, right," he said, unable to stop smiling, "but I was thinking, you know, if we're going to get married _anyway_..."

Elysa smiled and shook her head. Then she said matter-of-factly, "Sirius, we aren't going to have sex in a train compartment. That's sort of… strange."

"Think so?" Sirius asked lightly.

Elysa looked at him appraisingly. "Have you ever shagged anybody before, Sirius?" she asked.

"Um," Sirius began. He paused for a moment. Then, bracing himself, he said, "Yeah."

"How old were you?"

"Fourteen."

Elysa raised her eyebrows. "And who, pray tell, was the lucky girl?"

"Olivia Bower, then a sixth year," Sirius said promptly.

"Were you in a train compartment?"

"Maybe," Sirius replied.

Elysa couldn't help but smile slightly. "And what happened to Olivia?"

"Um…" Sirius began, leaning back to think. "Well, I think it was just sort of a one day thing; I didn't see her much afterward. I got the impression she just though I was an attractive kid and figured she'd have some fun with me."

Elysa was looking at him, her eyebrows still raised.

"Well, how about you, then?" he asked defensively.

"Me? What do you think?" Elysa asked, laughing ruefully.

"Honestly? I think you're pretty damn hot. If _I _were a guy – oh, wait; never mind. Well, if I were somebody other than me – or me, for that matter – I'd have no complaints over doing _anything_ with you," Sirius replied briskly.

Elysa gave him a sly look. "So what is that, a yes or a no?" she asked.

"I don't know; that's why I'm asking you!" Sirius replied, grinning.

Elysa sank back into her seat. "Well, actually, I'm a virgin… I guess. I've come pretty close to doing stuff in France, though; you know, with some of the attractive local muggles… you wouldn't _believe _how many good-looking ones come down to the South of France in the summers…"

"Ah. So, what, when you get bored do you go out and bait muggle boys?" Sirius asked, loving it.

Elysa smiled slightly. "Well,_ last_ summer my cousin Diana from America and I were bored, like you said, and so we decided to go scope out the muggles in Criel sur mer, which is the town near our villa…" She glanced at Sirius, who was looking rather amused. Elysa blushed slightly before continuing. "We ended up hooking up with some fairly good-looking ones… and then… well, Diana went and shagged hers. I sort of chickened out last minute."

Sirius smiled at her kindly. "Are you afraid, Lysie?"

Elysa shook her head. "No. I just don't want to have sex for the first time in a train compartment, regardless of what _you've_ done. In France… I don't know, I guess I just decided I wasn't a _putain _like Di…"

"'_Putain_'?" Sirius asked.

"Sorry, did I just say that? It means 'whore'... well, I was sort of acting like one, I'll admit…" Elysa paused for breath before continuing. "But anyway, Sirius, what would you tell your children when they ask you about the birds and the bees? 'Well, your mother and I first did it in a train compartment…'" Elysa trailed off.

Sirius pretended to look puzzled. "Why on earth would we tell our children where we first had sex? I really don't think they'd care to know…"

Elysa laughed. "I don't know… I just… I don't want to do anything, okay?"

"Okay," Sirius said. "So, about those children, though… assuming they ever get conceived…" Elysa gave him a look. "Just kidding," said Sirius quickly. "I'm sure they'll be conceived eventually… speaking of which, can we call one 'Ebony' or 'Sabel' or something? Ebony Black? Sabel Black? Wouldn't that be _cool_?"

Elysa rolled her eyes. "Our children are going to hate you," she remarked. "And no, we aren't going to give them puns for names. We're going to give them decidedly _un_-cool names so that they can go through life as losers."

"We will be awful parents," Sirius remarked happily.

"Let's call one… I don't know… how about 'Breck'?" Elysa suggested.

"_Breck_?" Sirius repeated, wringing his hands in mock agony. "What kind of name is that? Oh, our poor son…"

"I was thinking we'd use it for our daughter, actually," said Elysa casually, smiling slightly.

"Oh, well, in _that_ case…" Sirius agreed, flashing a thumbs up.

Elysa laughed.

"Will our kids speak French?" Sirius asked eagerly.

Elysa shrugged. "I suppose so."

"That's good… I should probably learn it too, what do you think?"

Elysa smiled. "Oh, definitely," she agreed.

"Okay, I will," Sirius replied cheerfully. "And actually, let's give our kids French names, to counteract the 'Black'."

Elysa grinned. "Alright… After all, that's probably a better idea than calling them 'Breck' and 'Sabel'…"

By this point, they had finished their lunches. Elysa lay down, her head in Sirius's lap. He stroked her hair and trailed his fingers up and down her bare stomach. Then he bent down to kiss her, and she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back, more passionately, and pretty soon they were making out again.

* * *

Reviews!

... oh, wait; I only got two... I guess it should be more like...

"reviews... :("

dixio: AH! Don't die! Haha, I'm glad you like it!

tall fry: Yeah, I'm actually one of the editors of the school paper this year... go figure, huh? And I'm glad you like Elysa!

Coming up: don't remember, but probably something about arriving at school, wouldn't you think?

PLEASE review! I'm updating early this week because school's started and I'm going to be busy... don't expect another update until, like, Friday. But if I get lots o' reviews, I'll possibly update sooner... so click that review button, please!


	9. An Acceptance

**A/N: **My computer messed up and to make a long story short, this story got deleted. I figure I'll repost a chapter every two to three days until I'm all caught up to Chapter 16, at which point I'll have already finished writing Chapters 17-and-beyond. Sorry if you've already read this stuff, but I figure you can cope.

**Summary:** Lupin notices the date and sits down to reminisce (that's about half a page). Then it's the tale of his 7th year and beyond, complete with new characters, old characters, and one hell of a lot more.

**Disclaimer:** whatever.

Sorry it's been more than a week! I sort of got distracted by school, etc. Hopefully I'll have Chapter 10 up on time, though!

...Enjoy!

* * *

Remus was sitting in his compartment reading a book when Acacia awoke with a yawn. If she noticed that she was no longer touching Remus, she did not let on. "What time is it?" she asked him.

Remus glanced at his watch. "4:30… we'll be arriving in about twenty minutes."

"Well, I'm going to go change into my robes, then," Acacia replied. She leaned on her palms for a few moments, her legs hanging over the edge of the bench, looking at Remus. Remus wasn't sure why at first; then he realized that she probably wanted him to kiss her or say something acknowledging.

"Um, okay," he said quickly. Acacia smiled slightly.

Then she stood up, sorted through her trunk for her robes, and said, "Okay, well, I'll be back in a couple of minutes…" She left the compartment and made her way down the corridor.

James was just waking up himself. "What's up?" he murmured, looking around. Then, "Oh, did she just go to change? What time is it, Moony?"

"4:30," Remus replied, sliding the compartment door shut.

"Well, we might as well change into our robes, too," James commented. He turned to shove Peter, who had fallen asleep as well. "Hey, Wormtail, we're going to get dressed! Care to join us?"

"Hmm?" Peter muttered, opening his eyes and looking around. He saw James and Remus sorting through their trunks for their black school robes. "Oh, dressed, yeah," Peter agreed, stretching. He crossed the compartment to his own trunk and began rooting around in it.

With his jeans and shirt changed into black robes, Remus sat back down and looked out of the window at the snowy fields. The landscape was far more rugged now. They were nearing Hogwarts.

There was a tentative knock on the door. "Come in!" James called.

The door slid back open; it was Acacia, now dressed in her school robes. Remus smiled at her pleasantly, and she smiled back.

She came over to sit down next to him, and Remus put his arm around, knowing it would make her happy, though his heart wasn't really into it. "What did you do while I was sleeping?" Acacia asked pleasantly.

Remus shrugged. "Looked out the window… read for a while… I think I slept at some point, too…"

"All in all, it's been a very exciting train ride," James offered helpfully. Acacia giggled, and then looked at Remus anxiously.

"I missed you over vacation," she said hopefully.

"Yeah, I missed you, too," Remus replied, not missing a beat. Inside, he was beginning to feel guilty. He knew he had to break up with Acacia soon; continuing to lead her on when he didn't like her at all that way was morally wrong.

Acacia leaned forward hesitantly and kissed Remus gently on the lips. _Shit_, Remus thought to himself. But he smiled at her and she smiled back and he said, "Right… well…" He glanced at his watch, and continued, "We're arriving in about ten minutes now… we should go and find Sirius and Elysa and… uh, make sure they know…"

Acacia giggled. She thought he sounded as embarrassed as he did because of whatever Sirius and Elysa were up to; really, he was embarrassed because he knew that she would wrongly assume this. And actually, it was not embarrassment at all; it was misery.

_I will not get depressed over Sirius and Elysa_, Remus thought stubbornly. _That is a completely ridiculous thing to do._

"I'll go with you," Acacia said cheerfully, still giggling. Remus forced himself to laugh.

"Well, we're off to go make sure Sirius and Elysa don't miss the stop," he announced to James and Peter as he and Acacia headed out of the compartment into the corridor.

James and Peter both laughed. "Have fun," James remarked.

Remus smiled blandly.

Once out in the corridor, Acacia brushed Remus's hand with hers. Without really thinking, he took her hand. Out of the corner of his eye, Remus saw her smile.

As they made their way down the train, Remus knocked on several doors and called, "Sirius?"

The first three closed doors responded with a, "He's not in here!" Then there were a whole bunch of compartments in which the occupants had already opened the door in anticipation of arriving shortly at the station. Finally, Remus and Acacia came to another closed door toward the end of the second car.

"Sirius?" Remus called, knocking.

"What?" he heard Sirius call back.

"Um, can I come in?" Remus asked.

He heard a giggle from behind the door.

"Just a moment, Remus!" he heard Elysa call. Acacia, next to him, looked at him and rolled her eyes. Remus couldn't help but smile back at her.

A few moments later, Elysa appeared at the door, her clothing looking somewhat rumpled. "Why, hello," she said cheerfully. "What's up?"

Behind her, Sirius, his clothing also looking quite rumpled, put his hands around her waist and pulled her back into him. Elysa shrieked.

"I'd forgotten how ticklish you were," Sirius remarked, laughing. Elysa pried his hands off of her waist and held them out on either side of her, still leaning back against him.

"Um, right…" Remus said, blushing despite himself. _Damn, Elysa was hot_. "Well, we just came by to tell you that the train is arriving in about ten minutes, so you should get changed and get your stuff organized…"

"That soon?" Sirius remarked, pulling Elysa's wrist up to look at her watch. "Damn, you're right… wow, time does fly…"

Elysa giggled slightly. "Um, yes…" she looked slightly embarrassed. "Well, thanks for letting us know, Remus… and Acacia… I guess we'll see you in a few minutes…"

"Okay," said Remus simply. He tightened his grip on Acacia's hand, more out of habit than actual thought, and led her back down the corridor. Behind him, he heard Sirius and Elysa's compartment door shut with a click.

Sirius and Elysa came into Remus's compartment just as the train was pulling to a stop. "Hello, hello!" James said jovially. "And how has your day been?"

Sirius laughed. "Fine, and yours?"

James shrugged. "So-so." Elysa and Sirius smiled.

Once out on the station platform, Remus decided to lose his glum internal attitude. He wanted to be happy. Everybody around him was, after all, and besides, he didn't need Elysa Fauchelevent to like him. Wasn't it enough that they were friends?

_No_, a little voice inside his head replied, _it's not enough. And she knows you're a werewolf, remember? But you heard Sirius: she doesn't care. How often are you going to meet a girl like that, Remus? How often?_

He gave a slight groan. He refused to have these thoughts. He was going to break up with Acacia, and he was going to forget about ever having loved Elysa. Except… except Elysa was so wonderful, he _couldn't _forget her. _What the hell was he going to do?_

* * *

On Tuesday, something happened that jolted Remus out of his dilemma: Lily Evans finally agreed to go out with James Potter. 

"I don't know why she said yes, and I don't particularly care!" James cried, ecstatic.

As it turned out, Lily had been feeling very lonely over Christmas vacation, and after returning to Hogwarts she suddenly realized what a nice boy James Potter had become. When he asked her on the first Monday back at class, "How was your vacation, Lily?" she gave a hesitant,

"It was… okay." James Potter looked at her for a moment, perplexed, and then said,

"Hey, what's up?"

She shrugged. "Oh, I don't know… I don't really get along with my sister, I guess…" She wondered why the hell she was telling this to James Potter.

He gave her a look of sympathy – true, sincere sympathy – and said, "I'm sorry." Then he smiled pleasantly and said, "But don't worry, Lily; I'll always be here for you!"

She rolled her eyes and turned away, but then she couldn't help but smile, because she knew that he was being completely honest.

So it was that, on Tuesday, when James Potter said, "Good morning, Evans, oh and by the way will you go out with me?" she paused for a moment and then said,

"Alright."

James stared at her in shock, as did Sirius, who was sitting on his right, and Remus, who was sitting on his left.

"Are you serious?" James asked.

Lily smiled. "Yes."

James grinned. "Wow! That is so, so, _so–_" Lily rolled her eyes, but then couldn't help it and smiled again. "–um, interesting," James finished lamely.

Lily laughed. James looked overjoyed. That very day they went for a walk in the new snow during afternoon break and James kissed her for the first time. Lily, who was finding James to be more appealing by the moment and could not understand how she hadn't liked him before, was delighted.

Remus was caught up in the excitement of the moment. Feeling very happy and vaguely left out, he kissed Acacia, causing her to grin and kiss him back. They sat and chatted for a while in the common room and Remus remembered how nice and genuine Acacia was.

Then Elysa and Sirius came in, after having been God-knows-where for the past half hour, their cheeks glowing and snow in their hair, and Remus smiled and held Acacia's hand more tightly and decided that he had officially moved on.

* * *

Yay! I got more reviews for this chapter than for the last one... please keep it up, guys; it makes me all warm and fuzzy inside! 

dixio - Thank you!

tresdrole - haha, merci vraiment. And I will, I will; never fear!

Ella - Thanks, I'm glad!

lavizsla - lol and wow, thanks so much for going and reviewing every chapter! I loved reading all of your reviews! glad you like it...

tall fry - Thank you! And sorry I updated a bit late... I hope you didn't go mad yet... ;)

**FYI, just so you know, the real plot of this story has hardly started. There is SO much more coming up... so...**

**...REVIEW, svp! ;D**


	10. More Annoying News

**A/N: **My computer messed up and to make a long story short, this story got deleted. I figure I'll repost a chapter every two to three days until I'm all caught up to Chapter 16, at which point I'll have already finished writing Chapters 17-and-beyond. Sorry if you've already read this stuff, but I figure you can cope.

**Summary:** Lupin notices the date and sits down to reminisce (that's about half a page). Then it's the tale of his 7th year and beyond, complete with new characters, old characters, and one hell of a lot more.

**Disclaimer:** whatever.

Yeah, it's been a while since I've updated... I sort of got distracted by _real_ life. But Chapter 10's up now, so no worries! heh, heh... please forgive me...

Enjoy!

* * *

He hadn't really; it was just a momentary feeling. However, the experience caused Remus to accept the reality of Sirius and Elysa more so than he had done before. He decided to stick with Acacia, seeing as she was really quite a nice girl who still liked him as much as ever.

On Thursday, the _Daily Prophet _brought news of more murders, muggles this time. Voldemort's followers, the "Death Eaters," as they called themselves, had tortured and killed a family of muggles for their own enjoyment.

"A sickening act, meant to destabilize the relationship between magical and non-magical peoples," a quote in the article deemed it.

Elysa Fauchelevent was reading some of the article aloud to Sirius, who was chewing his waffles very deliberately. "'Voldemort has claimed responsibility, but this time the actual killings were perpetrated by "Death Eaters," as Voldemort's followers are calling themselves,' Auror Sigmund Sterling said Tuesday night.

"The knowledge that many witches and wizards feel compelled to join Voldemort has disturbing ramifications, according to Sterling.

"'We aren't sure how many Death Eaters he has working for him right now,' Sterling admitted, 'but recent estimates put it at between 10 and 15. However, there could be many, many more.'

"Voldemort's continued elusion of capture could potentially continue for many months to come.

"'We really aren't any closer to catching him than we were five weeks ago,' Sterling said.

"Currently, the magical world awaits news of an end of Voldemort's reign of terror.

"'Be aware that Voldemort and his Death Eaters are very dangerous. The Ministry suggests that all witches and wizards exercise extreme caution until he has been apprehended,' Ministry spokeswoman Noreen O'Consky said in a statement Wednesday night."

Sirius swept his hair out of his eyes thoughtfully, causing several girls seated farther down the table to glance at him out of the corners of their eyes. Sirius pretended not to notice, but Elysa smiled pleasantly at the girls before turning back to him.

"So," Remus heard her say, "convinced yet?"

Sirius gave a short, mirthless laugh. "Nearly."

"What's up?" James asked, leaning across the table from where he was sitting with Lily.

Sirius and Elysa looked over at him.

"I think this is only the beginning of what this Voldemort's going to do," Elysa said stoutly.

"Ah… well, I certainly hope you're wrong," James remarked, his voice cheery.

Elysa shrugged dully. "I hope so, too, but…" She looked down at the front page of the paper again. There was a picture of that skull, floating in the dark sky.

"There's no need to be pessimistic," Lily said, shrugging amicably. "I mean, the entire Ministry of Magic is after him… he can't possibly last _that _long…"

Elysa shrugged again, but didn't say anything. Sirius looked at her: her loose curls were pulled casually back, and two wavy strands of hair swung down over her face as she stared at the picture of the skull. Her brow was furrowed in thought. Sirius realized that she did not want to have to explain to Lily the story of exactly _how_ she knew what she did; Elysa did not like to parade the fact that she came from an internationally based, influential, über-informed family.

Sirius had mentioned this to James months ago, however, and he turned to Lily and said, "Actually, not to add to the pessimism, but word on the street is Elysa usually knows what she's talking about."

Elysa looked up and smiled slightly. "'Word on the street?'" she repeated.

James shrugged, and grinned. "Well, by 'street' I mean… um… I don't know; something else. The point is that you're probably right."

Lily frowned curiously. "Why?" she asked.

"She's a Fauchelevent," James replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"So?" Lily asked, still not getting it.

"So? So, she's a Fauchelevent!" James repeated, with an exaggerated air of disbelief at Lily's inability to grasp the point.

Lily narrowed her eyes, though Sirius could tell that she was amused. "Look here, Potter, are you going to tell me or not?" she asked.

James smiled at her. "I'm not sure yet," he replied briskly.

Elysa rolled her eyes. "Lily, what he means is that I'm a member of the Fauchelevent family. Ever heard of us?"

Lily shook her head quickly. "Should I have?" she asked. "I mean, I'm muggle-born, so I don't really…" she paused for a moment, and then asked, "Are you one of those old wizarding families?"

Elysa sighed slightly, and then said, "Oldest in Europe, actually… basically, my relatives are all over the world, and everywhere they live, they're influential and involved in government and… yeah. Every summer, we all go to France for a reunion, and because nearly everybody in the Fauchelevent Clan is very well-placed, people know what's going on. During the summer, some of my uncles were discussing Voldemort. They knew about him, of course, because my relatives sort of know everything…" Elysa paused for breath, and then continued, "And then Voldemort went and murdered that family in Sheffield. Then he murdered those sisters in Manchester, and my aunt in France sent my parents a letter warning them to be careful… and now he's killed again." She sighed. "I trust my relatives, Lily. They have yet to be wrong about anything."

Lily was looking at Elysa, impressed. "That's really interesting," she commented excitedly. Elysa glanced at her, her eyebrows raised.

"I mean, no, not the part about Voldemort… just… I didn't know that about you," Lily clarified.

"Oh," Elysa said, smiling slightly. "Yeah, I try not to spread it around."

"_Parlez-vous français?_" Lily asked cheerfully. Her accent wasn't half bad.

"_Naturellement… et toi?_" Elysa replied casually, smiling.

"_Oui, un peu!_" Lily was clearly quite excited over the prospect of exercising her lingual skills.

"_Quelle coïncidence… Je parle français aussi!_" James remarked.

"_Les deux de vous? Je n'ai jamais su_," Elysa replied, smiling happily. "_Où_–"

Sirius coughed loudly.

"Sorry," Elysa giggled, looking at him adoringly. "You really need to pick up some French, _cher_…"

Sirius looked bemused. "Yes, we've been through this… I won't even know how to pronounce our children's names; it'll be so humiliating."

Elysa laughed. "I can see you now: 'Come to dinner, Jean-Claude! Come in, Auberta!'" She pronounced the names 'Gene-Clawday' and 'Awbirda.'

Sirius laughed, too. "I like those names. They sound very nice."

"Thinking up names for the children already, are we?" James asked, smiling brightly.

Sirius shrugged. "You can never start planning too soon." Elysa, however, not being as don't-give-a-damn as Sirius, was blushing slightly.

"I liked the second name… what was it? Auberta?" Lily remarked. She pronounced it properly: oh-BEHR-tah.

James smiled complacently. "Sorry, Lil," he replied, "but there is no way our kids are getting French names unless we learn to speak with flawless accents."

Lily gave him a look of disbelief. "Since when are _we_ having children? I'm talking about theirs." She laughed. "Good grief, Potter… I've only been going out with you for two days; don't push things."

James grinned at her. "Okay, but I think our kids should have nice, Anglo names."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Fine," she agreed dully.

Elysa burst out laughing. "You guys are adorable. I hope you have a whole nest of children," she remarked.

Lily blushed and James laughed.

"They can play with ours," Sirius added. "It'll be like a little party."

Remus, looking over from where he was sitting with Acacia, couldn't help but smile. He turned to look at Acacia, and found her skimming through a chapter of her transfiguration book.

"Whatcha reading?" Remus asked.

Acacia turned to smile at him. "I'm just reviewing cross-species transfiguration; I have a practical exam this afternoon."

"Oh," Remus remarked, "I remember that. And I'm sure you'll do fine; it's not _too _hard."

"I know," Acacia replied cheerfully. "I'm not worried; just looking everything back over..." She frowned at a paragraph on the paper, and then called down the table, "Hey, Elysa, did you hear if we need to know amphibians to mammals or just reptiles to mammals?"

Elysa, who was still laughing with Sirius, James, and Lily, turned toward Acacia. "Just reptiles," she informed her promptly. "And anyway, it's almost exactly the same wand movement; I'm sure we'd be fine regardless."

"Great," Acacia said, closing her book and sliding it back into her bag. She turned back to Remus. "Well, anyway, I'm going to head back up to my dormitory… I think I'll write and tell Mum and Dad about this latest attack by what's-his-face... Voldemort. They'd be interested to know, and if he's going after _muggles_ now, well…"

She smiled sadly, and leaned forward so that Remus could kiss her. He did so without hesitation; he liked Acacia, even if she couldn't hold a candle to Elysa Fauchelevent. Thinking this, Remus felt guilty. He was _over_ Elysa, he reminded himself. He glanced down the table at her as Acacia stood up and began to walk across the Great Hall. _Why did Elysa need to be so hot?_ And smart. And friendly. And funny. And… damn, she was perfect. Remus groaned silently and turned back to his plate.

Peter came up behind him and sat down. "Why, good morning, Moony," he said cheerfully. "What'd I miss?"

Remus glanced over at him. "Where've you been?" he asked.

Peter smirked. "It just so happens that _I _have a girlfriend now."

Remus couldn't help but grin in amusement. James and Sirius had to hear this. "Oy! Prongs! Padfoot!" he called, without looking around.

"What's up?" James called back, leaning forward to look down that table at Remus.

"C'mere!" Remus replied.

Behind him James and Sirius glanced at one another, curious, and then made their ways down the Gryffindor table to where Remus and Peter were sitting.

"What is it that's so urgent?" Sirius asked pleasantly, sitting down on the bench at Remus's left, his back against the table. James sat down beside him.

"_I _have a girlfriend," said Peter proudly.

"_You_?" Sirius exclaimed, laughing.

"She must be a bloody fool," remarked James, laughing too.

Peter rolled his eyes. He was too used to his friends to let them bother him. "No, she is not a bloody fool… I hope," he replied, causing James, Sirius and Remus to grin, still laughing.

"Well, who is she, mate?" asked Sirius cheerfully. "Don't leave us hanging…"

Peter cleared his throat importantly. "Perdita Sinclair," he said importantly.

"But she's… well, moderately attractive, for one thing," James said fairly, "but Wormtail, she's in _Slytherin_! What are you, a traitor?" He grinned again to show that he didn't really mind; Perdita Sinclair might have been in Slytherin, but she wasn't particularly sinister or dark arts obsessed, as Severus Snape was.

"What is she, a fifth year?" Remus asked jovially. "Going for the younger crowd, are we, Peter?"

Sirius, however, looked less amused. "She's my cousin, you crazy fool!"

Peter, James, and Remus all laughed. "She's your second cousin," Peter corrected him. "I checked."

Sirius groaned. "Wormtail, we've been through this, I don't like it when people date my family members. I would prefer for them all to die alone and unloved."

James rolled his eyes slightly, though he was no longer laughing. "Oh, let him have his fun, Padfoot," he said gently.

Sirius smiled reluctantly. "Fine," he replied briskly. "I won't inhibit you two."

Peter grinned. "Good," he said, glancing around toward the Slytherin table, where Perdita Sinclair was looking at him. He flashed her the 'thumbs up' sign, and she giggled before turning back to her friends.

Sirius exhaled loudly and stood up. He raised his head, glancing toward Elysa down the table, who noticed him at once. Sirius jerked his head purposefully toward the stairs leading out of the Great Hall, and Elysa, a perplexed and vaguely concerned expression on her face, stood up to meet him. As the two walked away, Remus looked after them. Sirius seemed to be talking very fast, and Elysa was nodding. She tightened her grip on his hand and said something. Then they reached the stairs and Remus could not longer see them.

"I don't know what to do," Sirius said sullenly.

Elysa smiled ruefully. "Oh, come on, Sirius," she said. "It doesn't matter who Peter dates."

Sirius shrugged. "I don't care that I'm related to Dita, it's just that… well, partially, I suppose, that I harbor utter resentment toward most of my family, though Dita was never _that_ bad, back when we were little and used to play." He paused, thinking. "It's just that… Dita and Bella, they're both in Slytherin – as is just about everyone else in the illustrious Black family – and I know that they're really close. Even when we were little, you know, it was Bella and Narcissa and Andromeda, and they were the three cousins who Dita (she's an only child) always wanted to be with. Well, now it's Bella and Dita here at school, and Narcissa's just graduated, and Andromeda, and so Bella is Dita's main roll model… you follow?"

Elysa nodded earnestly as they reached the stairs of the Great Hall and made their way up. "Are you afraid that Perdita – or Dita; whatever – is going to go over to Voldemort."

Sirius turned to look at her. "Basically, yes… look, Lys, you know how we were just reading about those 'Death Eaters' in the paper?"

Elysa nodded.

"Well," Sirius continued, sounding very annoyed, "I'm pretty sure I'm related to some of them."

Again, Elysa nodded. "People won't judge you on your family, Sirius," she replied briskly. "Don't worry."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Oh, please."

Elysa smiled slightly. "Well, that's not entirely true, I guess… but, Sirius, your friends will never judge you on your family. _I _will never judge you on your family. Isn't that enough? Sort of?"

Sirius smiled and put his arm around her. God, how he loved her…

"Yes," he replied quickly. "I mean, for _normal _people, no, but people with ridiculous families like mine need to compromise."

Elysa smiled slightly. "Well, as long as that's settled…" She put her arm around his waist as they reached the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. "Now, about Dita," she continued cheerfully, "I think you should just let things play out. I mean, face it, she's probably much cooler than Peter… once she gets over the whole 'He's a seventh year' thing she'll probably loose interest… _Turnipike_." The portrait hole swung open.

Sirius laughed, shaking his head as they crawled through. "You're probably right, though I'm a bad friend to say it." He sighed as they made their way across the common room. "I guess I'm just worried about… I don't know. I don't like the idea of Wormtail hanging around with somebody so easily influenced by the rest of my family."

Elysa smiled woefully. "What can you do?"

Sirius shrugged. "Nothing, I guess… whatever; it'll play out, like you said." Then he turned and kissed her, right there in the middle of the common room. When he pulled back, Elysa's eyes were shining.

"I love you," Sirius told her, and he meant it with all of his heart.

Elysa smiled. "And I love you," she replied with complete honesty. "Isn't it great the way these things work out?"

Sirius kissed her again, and they probably would have gone on for a while in the deserted common room (everybody was still at breakfast) when they heard footsteps on the dormitory stairs. "Later," Elysa whispered in Sirius's ear, stepping away from him as a third-year girl entered the room.

"Hello, Carol," said Elysa pleasantly. The girl looked at her, smiling. She liked Elysa; most people did, especially as of this year when she had become outgoing and exceptionally beautiful.

"Hey, Elysa," Carol replied. She glanced over at Sirius Black. She knew who he was, of course; he was probably the hottest guy in school. She also knew that he was going out with Elysa, something that made Carol quite happy, because there was something uplifting about seeing a gorgeous couple so obviously enamored of one another.

"Did you miss breakfast?" Elysa asked conversationally.

Carol shook her head. "Nope; I'm heading to class. There are–" she glanced at her watch "–five minutes until we need to be there." As if on cue, a bell tolled out, announcing the end of breakfast and the start of passing period.

"Well then, we'd best go, too," Elysa remarked, turned toward Sirius and taking his hand casually.

"Must we?" Sirius said quietly, raising his eyebrows. Elysa grinned at him and said,

"Probably."

Carol, meanwhile, had made her way to the portrait hole. "Bye, Elysa!" she called over her shoulder.

"See you around, Carol!" Elysa called back.

As soon as Carol was gone, Sirius wrapped his arms around Elysa and kissed her passionately. This time, they were not interrupted.

* * *

Reviews: 

tall fry - thank you!

tresdrole - thank you!

dixio - thank you!

lavizsla - thank you!

Please keep reading; you make me the happiest little girl alive when I see somebody's reviewed! Seriously. It makes my day. Except for on days where something awesome already happened...

Anyway, stay tuned for Chapter 11! It'll be up much sooner than this one was, I promise!

And PS: Don't worry if the story doesn't seem to be going anywhere. It gets started soon, believe me.

potpoury


	11. Falling Again

**A/N: **My computer messed up and to make a long story short, this story got deleted. I figure I'll repost a chapter every two to three days until I'm all caught up to Chapter 16, at which point I'll have already finished writing Chapters 17-and-beyond. Sorry if you've already read this stuff, but I figure you can cope.

**Summary:** Lupin notices the date and sits down to reminisce (that's about half a page). Then it's the tale of his 7th year and beyond, complete with new characters, old characters, and one hell of a lot more.

**Disclaimer:** whatever.

Sorry it's taken ages... I am very bad, I know...

* * *

Sirius was late to potions that morning. Class had begun, and Remus and James were already seated at their table in the back of the room (Peter was at Herbology) when Sirius strolled in at his ease. "And where have you been, Mr. Black?" asked Professor Slughorn briskly. 

"My apologies, Professor," Sirius said, bowing his head slightly and not answering the question.

"Yes, well… five points from Gryffindor, Black. And don't make this a habit… _again_… or I shall put you in detention!"

"Oh, come on, Professor; it's been ages since I've been tardy!" Sirius complained, still not at all perturbed.

"Mr. Black, you have missed the start of an important lesson," Professor Slughorn replied. "We are reviewing transformation potions for your N.E.W.T.s! Now please take your seat!"

Sirius glanced at the board, and frowned. "We did this last year," he remarked. "Don't worry; I still remember it..."

Professor Slughorn pursed his lips in annoyance. He was an even-tempered enough man by nature, but sometimes he wished Sirius Black – and James Potter, for that matter – weren't so goddamn _smart_. It would make his chastising of them much, much simpler.

"That may be, Mr. Black, but please take your seat nonetheless," Professor Slughorn told him sharply.

"Certainly," Sirius agreed pleasantly, heading toward the back of the room to join his friends.

Sirius sat down at the table next to James and Remus. He glanced at Lily, who was looking at James over her shoulder from her place near the front of the room. James noticed and smiled at her, and she smiled back. Sirius shook his head, amused.

Now James noticed him. "Mr. Black, you have missed the start of a very important lesson," he said in a low voice, fighting to keep his expression serious. "Now where the hell have you been, young man?"

Sirius laughed as he reached for his potions ingredients. "Um… the common room. Lost track of time, you know…"

James rolled his eyes. "And is Miss Fauchelevent going to be late for her classes, too?" he asked. He paused for a moment, and then added, "Not that that is at all related to _your_ tardiness, but _still_…"

Sirius grinned. "Nah, she has arithmancy; it's right up there on the fourth floor. I'm only late because I had to get all the way down to the dungeons…"

Remus glanced over at the Sirius, who was now beginning to mix his potion. "So what's the deal with Wormtail dating what's-her-face… Perdita?" he asked. "Are we all figured out there, or what?"

Sirius smiled woefully. "Well, I figured, no reason to disturb the love-struck, so…"

James snorted derisively. "Bull shit," he remarked.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Perhaps," he agreed ambiguously, "but the point is, I'll let them have their fun."

"Good," Remus remarked. He noticed that Lily was trying to catch James's eye again, and so he nudged him and said, "Hey, someone's trying to catch your eye again, Prongs…"

James looked up briskly, smiling. Lily giggled and mouthed something to him. James nodded and grinned. Lily grinned, too, and turned back to her cauldron.

"Sorry, I missed that," Sirius, who had been watching, remarked conversationally. "What'd she say?"

James shrugged, and added more ingredients to his potion. "No idea, but my reaction must have been what she was looking for, right?"

Remus laughed. "Speaking of… well, not that, but… anyway, the full moon's coming up…" He trailed off.

James smiled down at his potion, and Sirius glanced over casually. "Damned right it is," said James happily. "We ought to go and plan that tonight…"

"I concur," Sirius remarked.

James looked at him, his eyebrows raised. "_Concur_?"

"It means 'agree,' young Prongs," Sirius explained clearly, not able to hide a slight smile.

"Golly, I didn't know _that_," James replied sarcastically. "Thanks for expanding my vocabulary, oh wise Padfoot."

"Any time," Sirius said casually, smiling more broadly and turning back to his cauldron.

* * *

Friday night was the full moon, so Remus, naturally, would be heading out to the Shrieking Shack after supper. At lunchtime, Acacia asked Remus if he wanted to go for a stroll around the castle that night. 

"What, after hours?" Remus asked, pretending to be aghast.

Acacia laughed. "Well, we could be back by then… or we could just sit in the library, or…"

Remus smiled. "Actually, I can't do anything tonight. I… I have a big paper to write for… Potions."

"It's Friday night, Remus! Live a little!" Acacia said, laughing. "You have all weekend to finish stuff!"

Remus frowned. "No, I need to get it done tonight," he informed her. "Maybe tomorrow afternoon we can go for a walk or something…"

Acacia looked disappointed. "Well, okay," she agreed. She glanced at her watch, and then said, "Oh, shoot, I need to be in the library right now; I promised my friend Sinead I'd help her on her charms homework before class… I guess I'll see you at dinner, Remus." She wouldn't, of course, but Remus figured he'd explain his absence the next day.

"See you later," Remus replied, kissing her on the cheek. Acacia smiled at him happily and, grabbing her books, skipped off through the Great Hall toward the staircase.

Elysa Fauchelevent, who had been sitting farther down the table, now slid down the bench to Remus. She was looking at him intently, her chin resting in the palm of her hand. Remus swallowed, looking at her. _God, she was beautiful_.

"Hey, Remus," she said casually.

"Hey," he replied, as calmly as you please.

"I was wondering about… tonight," she began. "I know you guys are all going out to do… whatever the hell you do… and I was curious…" she trailed off, looking at him imploringly.

Remus swallowed again. For a moment, he had forgotten that she knew about his being a werewolf and his friends being animagi. "What about?" he asked smoothly.

Elysa frowned, seeming to ponder the way she would phrase her question. She pushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Then she asked, "What does it feel like?"

Remus raised his eyebrows. "Which part?" he asked. "Because, I mean, the first part is sort of painful, and then…"

Elysa shook her head slightly. "No, not that part… I figured it probably hurt. I mean afterward, when you're a…" she glanced briefly out of the corner of her eyes at the people nearest them, who did not seem to notice or care what they were talking about. "…a werewolf," Elysa continued, "and then Sirius and James and Peter show up. I mean, does it help? Do you feel… _different_?"

Remus stared at her for a moment. Nobody had ever asked him this question straight out. He nodded slowly. "Yeah. I mean, I sort of _know_ it's them. And I guess… I guess that makes me calm down some and sort of… regain some control…"

"That's good," Elysa remarked. "But actually, what I'm really wondering about is _how_ much control you have." She lowered her voice. "Sirius told me about what almost happened with that couple out in Hogsmeade… how you almost bit them, and everything…"

Remus shuddered slightly. He remember the sudden loss of control he had experienced upon smelling people – other people – and how Sirius and James had had to fight him until he bled to get him away from them.

Remus opened his mouth to speak, but then couldn't think of anything to say.

Elysa looked at him imploringly, her beautiful dark eyes sparkling. "Remus, I don't want to be at all… I don't know… _involved_, I guess, in what you guys do during the full moon, but I think you should be more careful." She sighed slightly, and then continued, "Sirius doesn't really get it; he's too carried away with how often you've gotten away with things that could have turned ugly. James is the same … and Peter, well, I'm not good enough friends with him to really discuss it. But Remus, really, I think you should… I don't know… be more aware."

Remus cleared his throat. "No, of course," he said quickly. "I mean, I know, we are sort of stupid…" He trailed off, yet again not sure what to say next. Being around Elysa seemed to do that to him.

Elysa smiled slightly at him. "As long as nothing happens, I don't really care… I guess. But bear it in mind, okay?" she asked.

Remus nodded, and smiled at her. Would that he could have this conversation with Acacia…

"Speaking of which, have you told Acacia yet?" Elysa asked, slightly more cheerful.

Remus shook his head slowly. "I can't," he explained.

Elysa frowned. "Oh… well, that's too bad…" She paused for a moment, and then said, "Remus, if you ever want to talk about Acacia… about how to tell her, for one thing, if you're ever ready to… you can always talk to me." She smiled pleasantly. "I'll give you my feminine opinion on how she'd react, or whatever."

Remus smiled, too. "Thanks," he replied. "I'll remember that."

Elysa smiled back at him. "Okay," she said quietly. Sirius came up behind her and massaged her shoulders. Elysa leaned her head back to look up at him. "Why, hello," she remarked.

"Hello to you too," Sirius replied. He glanced at Remus, who was still looking at Elysa, successfully trying to hide how enamored he again was of her. "What's up?" Sirius asked casually.

Remus shifted his gaze to Sirius. "What?" he asked, confused.

"How goes the day?" Sirius repeated.

Remus smiled slightly. "As well as can be expected. And you?"

The corners of Sirius's mouth twitched. "Just peachy, thanks…" He looked back down at Elysa. "And you, Lysie, how goes _your _day?"

"Can't complain," she replied cheerfully, looking up at him adoringly.

"Well, that's good, I suppose," said Sirius darkly, sitting down next to her and helping himself to bread and butter. Elysa smiled, and Remus did, too. Her smile was infectious.

_Damn_, Remus thought, _I've fallen for her again_.

* * *

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	12. The Plot Thickens

**A/N: **My computer messed up and to make a long story short, this story got deleted. I figure I'll repost a chapter every two to three days until I'm all caught up to Chapter 16, at which point I'll have already finished writing Chapters 17-and-beyond. Sorry if you've already read this stuff, but I figure you can cope.

**Summary:** Lupin notices the date and sits down to reminisce (that's about half a page). Then it's the tale of his 7th year and beyond, complete with new characters, old characters, and one hell of a lot more.

**Disclaimer:** whatever.

**A/N:** yeah, it's been ages. All I can do is beg for forgiveness...

* * *

January and February flew by. Weekly reports of the horrors Lord Voldemort was inflicting upon the world became commonplace. Soon, the people were referring to Voldemort as "You-Know-Who," as in, "Well, You-Know-Who's gone and murdered some more people… I do hope they catch him soon!" 

Though the business of calling Voldemort "You-Know-Who" started in an innocent, exasperated way, similar to calling somebody, "What's-his-face… that mass murderer, you know," it soon progressed to a point where anybody who said, "Voldemort" was instantly glared at in shock. Then the _Daily Prophet_ printed the headline, "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named strikes yet again," and henceforth, "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named" joined the list of code words for "Voldemort."

Remus thought this "You-Know-Who" nonsense was all ridiculous. James and Sirius adamantly agreed, though Peter, who had been spending a great deal of time with Perdita, quickly caught on to the fad. Acacia, who Remus was still technically dating, albeit grudgingly, and who still did not know that her boyfriend was a werewolf, called Voldemort by nicknames despite Remus's urging that she not bother. Even Elysa Fauchelevent couldn't help but give into the trend. One day at breakfast, she remarked to Sirius,

"Well, You-Know-Who's killed somebody else. Want to hear the article?"

Sirius put on a horrified face and said, "Lysie! You, of all people!"

Elysa raised her eyebrows, both confused and amused. "What did I do now?" she asked breathlessly.

Sirius looked at her accusingly. "You've bought into this 'You-Know-Who' crap! Good lord, Lys, I thought you had more moral fiber than that!" He grinned slightly to show that he was kidding. Sort of.

Elysa rolled her eyes. "Sorry. The ignorant masses are getting to me," she replied dryly. "If it bothers you that much, I'll call him 'Lord Voldemort.' Happy?"

Sirius smiled. "Very much so." Then he looked more serious. "But really, calling Voldemort 'You-Know-Who' or whatever is… it's showing him that people are frightened of him."

"Well, no offense, Sirius," Elysa remarked, "but people _are_ frightened of–"

"I know," Sirius interrupted, "but we can't give him the… the satisfaction, if you will."

Elysa smiled. "Okay," she replied.

Remus, who had been listening, was pleased. Acacia hadn't agreed to his argument; she'd merely replied, "Oh, good grief, Remus… it's not like what _I _call him is going to make any difference."

Elysa, on the other hand, seemed to grasp the point.

In the months to come, of course, calling Lord Voldemort by name would become so taboo that Elysa would soon return to "You-Know-Who" when around people other than Sirius, Remus, and James, as they would stare at her wide-eyed or flinch uncomfortably. "I know _you_ all don't have a problem with making people uncomfortable," she would explain, rolling her eyes, "but, see, unfortunately, I _do_…"

In the meantime, Remus saw that the teachers were worried. Professor Dumbledore in particular looked sad and angry whenever news of a new death appeared in the _Prophet_. Indeed, some of the people being murdered were highly-respected Ministry officials or their families whom Remus vaguely knew. Sirius, James, and Elysa, with their pure-blood, ancient families, knew even more of the influential people being slain. Remus often saw Lily sitting with them at breakfast, listening to James, Sirius, and Elysa comment, sounding distressed, on the latest victim and things they remembered about them.

* * *

In March Sirius overheard Peter talking to Bellatrix in the library and grew furious. "Wormtail, you git!" he shouted at him in their dormitories that night. "I heard you talking to Bella, and what was worse, you were _agreeing_ with her! Don't get mixed up with her lot, it's bad enough that you're going out with Dita… but don't let her influence you that much!" 

Peter was very angry, too. Remus could easily understand why Sirius was so upset, but he couldn't help but partially sympathize with Peter, who, not being as strong-willed as any of his friends, would not have been able to fend Bellatrix off.

"I didn't agree with her!" Peter shouted at Sirius. "I just nodded and… Look, I just couldn't get her to go away, Sirius! I'm not like Elysa Fauchelevent! I couldn't just tell her to 'fuck off'!"

Sirius glared at him. He was obviously annoyed by the way Peter was talking about Elysa, mostly because Peter's anger caused his words to sound degrading, rather than admiring.

"Don't compare yourself to Elysa," Sirius said quietly.

"Sirius," Peter groaned. "I don't mean it like… like _that_! Just… I couldn't get her to go away! I'm _sorry_, Sirius! I… I will never talk to your cousin again! I _swear_!"

Sirius was growing tired of the argument, Remus could tell. A shadow of a grin flickered across his face. "Never again, eh?" he remarked.

Peter nodded earnestly.

Sirius looked at him sharply. "All right then… and what about Dita?"

"Oh, Dita," Peter said sullenly. "She… she broke up with me. That's why I was talking to Bellatrix in the library: she heard about what happened and was wondering if I was okay."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Not to ruin the magic, but my cousin doesn't give a damn about your love life." He seemed to realize this sounded harsh, but chose not to apologize.

Peter exhaled shakily. "I… I know. She wanted to talk to me about… about You-Know-Who."

Sirius looked up at him sharply. "Voldemort?" Peter flinched. "I though as much," Sirius continued disdainfully. "Well, ignore her, Wormtail. Start spending more time with us again, and she'll leave you alone."

Peter nodded solemnly, and Sirius smiled slowly, pleased.

"Well," James said briskly. "Glad that's been cleared up. But anyway, Easter break's in two weeks, and there's a full moon that first Saturday night, so I was wondering if you lot wanted to stay here and take advantage of it."

"Can't," Peter grunted. "My mum always insists that I come home for the holidays."

"Well, that's no good; we can't very well get into the tree without you, can we?" Sirius remarked. "We'd have to… I don't know… like, use a stick or something…"

"Gee, sounds complicated," Remus commented, raising his eyebrows. "I don't know if you lot could manage it…"

"You're staying, then, Remus?" James asked.

Remus shrugged. "Sure… I mean, if you two are, why not, right?"

"Is Acacia staying?" Sirius asked.

Remus shrugged again. "I don't know… probably not; I think her family's as smothering as yours, Wormtail."

"Is Elysa staying?" James asked Sirius. "'Cause I'm pretty sure I can get Lily to, and if Elysa does, too, we could… well, have quite a lot of fun…"

Sirius grinned slightly. "I bet she's going home," he replied. "I think she always does. It's a pity…"

"Well, try to convince her to stay, mate," James suggested cheerfully. "We'd have a grand time."

Remus coughed. "Sorry to interrupt, but where exactly do _I_ fit into this oh-so-fun picture?"

James laughed. "Hey, get Acacia to stay, and I'm sure we can find you a spot."

Remus sighed slightly. "Yeah, well… I don't know. I'm sort of… losing interest in Acacia."

James, Sirius, and Peter all looked up at him. They came over to sit on his bed. "Really? Do tell us more," James insisted.

Remus shrugged. "That's all there is to it, really. I was actually thinking about breaking up with her…" He looked up at his friends quickly. "Don't say anything to anybody, of course… I don't want her hearing about it before I actually do it."

"Don't worry; your feelings of teen angst are safe with us," said Sirius solemnly.

Remus smiled.

* * *

He broke up with Acacia three days before the start of Easter break. They were outside during morning break. He felt he did a fairly reasonable job incorporating the whole, "I really like you, but I think we should just be friends" statement. However, after saying it, he was distraught to see Acacia's eyes well up with tears. 

"But… but," she whispered, a tear trickling down her cheek. "I… why, Remus? Did I do something?"

Remus hadn't quite realized exactly how much she liked him. He felt somewhat guilty. "No, it's nothing like that," he said quickly. "It's just that I don't… I don't want to have a girlfriend right now… though I'd still love to be friends," he repeated.

Acacia glared at him. "It's Elysa Fauchelevent, isn't it?" she remarked angrily.

Remus felt his stomach flip-flop. "No, not at all," he began.

"Oh, don't lie, Remus," Acacia snapped. "I see the way you look at her… of course, half the boys in the school do, too, but _still_, Remus… I though you were… _deeper_ than that."

Remus felt his mouth open in astonishment mingled with annoyance. His first thought was that Acacia, while right in her overall observation, had it backwards: Remus's love for Elysa had almost nothing to do with how beautiful she was. That was just a bonus. He loved her as a person whom he admired in almost every way.

Remus's second thought was that he really didn't want Acacia saying this to anybody else. It was this thought which he acted upon. "That is not true at all, Acacia," he said quietly. "I know you're… upset, but… don't go and blame anybody. It's not you, or Elysa Fauchelevent, or anyone else; it's _me_." Remus was very aware of how cliché he sounded. He felt somewhat embarrassed.

Acacia didn't answer. "I'll see you around," she said shortly. Then she stood up and walked back up the stone steps toward the castle, wiping her eyes.

Remus sighed. Actually, now that that was out of the way, he felt very, very relieved. He caught sight of Elysa and Sirius making their way back up from the lake, their robes looking somewhat mused. He couldn't help but sigh again.

Sirius and Elysa came up to him. "What's up?" Sirius asked cheerfully.

Remus looked up at the two of them, standing hand in hand and looking very attractive, as always. "I… I just broke up with Acacia," he said quietly.

"Oh!" Sirius remarked. "Well… that's… _news_."

"Are you okay, Remus?" Elysa asked, her face sympathetic. "Did it go all right? Is _she_ okay?"

Remus shrugged. "Um… I don't know. She was pretty sad when I told her."

"Want me to go and talk to her?" Elysa suggested. "I mean, I could… I don't know… lend an ear, or something. I don't need to tell her that you sent me."

"No, don't do that," said Remus quickly. "I mean… you don't need to; I'm sure she'll be fine."

"Okay," Elysa agreed, taken aback.

Sirius slid his arm around her waist and turned to look at her. "So, anyway, _cher_," he remarked, and Elysa rolled her eyes at his intentionally-atrocious accent, "are you going to stay here with me and James and Remus and Lily during Easter holidays or not?"

Elysa laughed. "I told you already, I can't! My mum and dad always expect me back for the holidays!"

"Oh, come _on_," Sirius persisted. "You'll see them this summer… and beside, Lys, wouldn't you rather spend a week straight with _me_… oh, and Remus, James, etc…. than with _them_?"

Elysa smiled. "Well, yes, but–"

"Excellent," said Sirius cheerfully. "I'll write them a letter and tell them, shall I? Something like, 'Dear Mr. and Mrs. Fauchelevent, I am writing to inform you that your daughter, Elysa Fauchelevent, will be staying at Hogwarts during the upcoming Easter holidays in order to spend more time making out with me, her boyfriend, Sirius Black-"

"Yes, I'm sure they'd be very receptive to that," said Elysa, also cheerful. "Completely put them at ease, that would…"

Sirius grinned and leaned forward to kiss her, but she put her finger up to his lips and said, "Your manners are appalling, Sirius. You're completely excluding Remus from this conversation."

Remus was still looking at them, somewhat amused. Elysa turned to him and said, "My apologies, Remus."

"I'll kiss him when I'm done with you," Sirius replied briskly. "Then he'll feel included…"

Remus laughed. "Actually, I think I hear… um, the bell. I'll see you two later."

Sirius grinned and Elysa laughed as Remus made his way back up the steps. He glanced back at the door to see that Elysa had let Sirius kiss her by this point. As he watched, they finished and slid their arms around each other's waists before making their way up the stairs. Remus slipped inside quickly.

Back in the Great Hall, Remus avoided Acacia, who was looking away from him determinably, and went over to sit with James and Lily. "Did you and Acacia just… um, break up?" Lily asked quietly. "It's just that she looks really upset…"

Remus smiled sadly. "Yep," he informed them. "But I don't really want to go into it…"

"No problem," said James cheerfully. "I don't fancy a depressing story anyway. Let's discuss our plans for the holidays. Lily, I'll probably spend the first few days with _you_. We can make out or something… and _Moony­_–"

"I'd rather not snog you, actually," Remus replied pleasantly. "But I'm sure we can find something else just as fun to do…"

James grinned. "I like your thinking, Remus… but anyway," he turned back to Lily, "Sirius was going to get Elysa to stay, too. It'll be fun, eh?"

"Elysa's not staying," Remus interrupted. "At least, I don't think so."

James looked disappointed. "Pity," he remarked.

Two days later, however, Elysa _did _end up staying for Easter break. It was a decision that would save her life.

* * *

Heh heh heh… aren't cliff-hangers FUN? Stay tuned; next chapter gets _un peu _more intense… in more that one way. 

REVIEWS!

Lainia26 - Thank you!

Vilya0 - hmm, I hope you got your math homework done. Yeah, the French might be a bit weird because I speak it but never really took it in school or learned to write, so I think my grammar sort of sucks. Anyway, I figure I'll get someone to double-check it when/if there's more dialogue.

Moonilicious - yeah, I'd probably hate her too if she were real... heh heh, _kill her off_... well, let's just stay tuned, shall we? ;)

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dixio - yeah, I wasn't too prompt, sorry... but thank you!

StringBean458 - thank you!


	13. In Which Life Gets Much Scarier

**A/N: **My computer messed up and to make a long story short, this story got deleted. I figure I'll repost a chapter every two to three days until I'm all caught up to Chapter 16, at which point I'll have already finished writing Chapters 17-and-beyond. Sorry if you've already read this stuff, but I figure you can cope. 

**Summary:** Lupin notices the date and sits down to reminisce (that's about half a page). Then it's the tale of his 7th year and beyond, complete with new characters, old characters, and one hell of a lot more.

**Disclaimer:** whatever.

**A/N:** Please note that this chapter is a tad risqué in terms of its "T" rating. (I'm not sure quite what constitutes "graphic.") If you are innocent and impressionable, you might be better off not reading it ;) On second thought, the story would sort of get confusing if you don't… hmm…

I'll leave it to your good judgment.

Now, to take up where we left off…

* * *

"I've decided to stay," Elysa informed Sirius, when he looked up at her in surprise from his place at the table in the Great Hall. Half an hour earlier, he had said goodbye to Elysa for what he thought was going to be a whole week. Instead, upon preparing to leave, Elysa had decided spur-of-the-moment that she really _would_ rather spend the week making out (and perhaps doing more) with her boyfriend than seeing her family. She decided to owl her parents and tell them that she had changed her mind – "All of my friends are staying here over holidays, I have some studying to catch up with, and I'll see you all in June, etc.," except in French, not English – and then head down to the Great Hall to find Sirius and get the week going.

"Oh," Sirius remarked pleasantly. "Well… that's_ great_. Come and eat some lunch, why don't you?"

Elysa smiled and obliged. James, Lily, and Remus were seated next to or across the table from Sirius, and they all looked very surprised to see her. Remus in particular looked happy, though Elysa didn't think much of it.

After a leisurely lunch, Remus announced that he was going to go the library to get some of the work he had to do out of the way while he still had a little work ethic left over from school (James and Sirius rolled their eyes), and Lily and James said that they were going to go for a stroll down to the lake.

"Well, have fun, um… sitting innocently and watching the little waves lapping at the beach," Sirius remarked.

Lily giggled, and James suddenly leaned forward to kiss her. Lily blushed and said, "Save it for the lake, pal."

James grinned. "As you wish," he replied courteously.

Remus rolled his eyes. _Maybe I shouldn't have broken up with Acacia yet_, he mused. _If this is all they do this week… but no, it won't be; tonight's the full moon and that'll just be me, Sirius, and James._

After everybody else had gone, Sirius and Elysa made their way upstairs, their arms around one another. "I'm really glad you decided to stay," said Sirius sincerely.

Elysa smiled. "Likewise… I mean, we never _see_ one another anymore!"

Sirius laughed; this was ridiculously untrue. "Too true," he agreed.

They reached the common room, which housed a few students chatting and playing chess. "Want to go upstairs?" Sirius asked nonchalantly.

"Where, to your dormitory?" Elysa asked.

"Duh," said Sirius, rolling his eyes.

Elysa smiled. "Can girls go up the boys' staircase?"

"Yep," said Sirius promptly. He had had experience with this before. Elysa rolled her eyes and couldn't help but smile. Secretly, she was amused by how many girls Sirius had been involved with. If it had been anybody other than herself dating him now, Elysa would have thought that the girl was vaguely pathetic to go for such a playboy. However, she herself knew that Sirius was not at all the way he used to be… well, in terms of his interactions with the opposite sex, anyway. Elysa had turned him into a one-woman man without trying, a fact she greatly enjoyed.

They made their way up the staircase and into the seventh-year dormitory. As Sirius closed the door, Elysa strolled around and examined things. "Which bed is yours?" she asked.

Sirius pointed to it. "That one." Elysa went over and sat on it. Sirius came up to stand in front of her, and she looked up at him, her loose curls hanging over her shoulders, her eyes twinkling. Sirius brushed his hair out of his eyes and grinned at her.

Elysa laughed and put out her arms. Sirius put his hands on either side of her face and she slid her hands around his neck and they kissed one another. Then Sirius pushed her back onto the bed, still kissing her, and followed her down so that he was lying on top of her.

Elysa slid her hands through his hair and traced his face with her finger and Sirius kissed her again. That went on for a while. Then Sirius slid his hands under her shirt. He was waiting for Elysa to say something, a witting comment, perhaps, but she said nothing; she just kept kissing him. Her eyes were closed. Sirius got her shirt all the way off. He was very surprised; usually she had something to say by this point.

Then Elysa did say something. "_Je t'aime_," she whispered.

Sirius couldn't help but grin. He loved her, too. He loved her with all of his heart, and he never wanted to be anywhere without her. "And I love you," he replied, also in a whisper. Then he kissed her neck while she ran her fingers through his hair, and kissed her collarbone, and kept going lower. Elysa did not protest.

At one point she said, "Take off your shirt… I mean, if _I _have to…" Sirius laughed and obliged, completely at ease. Elysa usually didn't take this much initiative. Perhaps there was hope…

Sirius had good reason to hope. He got Elysa's skirt off, and then more, and finally, when they were both completely naked, he said, "So… is this a good enough place?"

Elysa shrugged. "It's better than a train compartment."

Sirius still hesitated. All the other times he had been in this situation before, he never had hesitated, but all of those times he had not been with Elysa. He leaned on his elbows and looked down at her. "You sure?" he asked.

Elysa looked up at him, her eyebrows raised. "Are _you_?"

Sirius grinned. "Well, _I've_ been sure for quite some time now… I'm just making sure that _you–_"

"Shut up and kiss me," Elysa interrupted, wrapping her arms around his neck. Sirius obliged. Then he said,

"So it that a–"

"_Oui_," Elysa replied, kissing him again.

Sirius laughed and grinned as he kissed her passionately back.

And the rest is history.

* * *

Hours later, Remus had finished his work in the library. He was feeling quite pleased with himself: he had virtually no more homework to do for the remainder of Easter break.

It was true that, at first, he had only planned to do one essay and leave it at that, but after he made his way back up to the Gryffindor common room and then up the spiral staircase to the boys' dormitories to find his own dormitory door locked, he decided that he might as well go and get some more work done.

Thus, trying hard not to think about exactly _what_ Sirius and Elysa (he knew it was them, since James and Lily had gone down to the lake) were doing in the dormitory, Remus had returned to the library, book bag slung over his shoulder.

It was nearly evening when he finished and remembered that he had to go to the hospital wing and then make his way out to the Shrieking Shack. He checked in with Madam Pomfrey, and then she led him down the stairs and out of the castle, checking her watch. The sun was setting over the lake. On their way across the grounds, Remus wondered if James and Sirius would turn up that night… but of course, he reminded himself, he was being stupid; of _course_ they would. It was just that he hadn't seen any of his friends since lunch…

In the Shrieking Shack, Remus sat down to eat the food Madam Pomfrey had left him in a basket and wait for the moon to rise. He hated the waiting; usually, he tried to hide under the table or in a corner to prevent the moonlight from touching him. Of course, it was eventually no use; a small bit was bound to fall on him, and then that was that: he transformed.

After finishing the chicken and bread Madam Pomfrey had left, Remus walked to the corner and sat down to wait. He had no idea what was happening up at the castle; he would not find out for a day or two.

At dinner, Lily and James sat and helped themselves to bread pudding and lamb. Sirius and Elysa had yet to turn up. "They're probably off shagging or something," he grumbled, not aware of how accurate he was. Lily giggled.

"Perhaps."

They both looked up as the door to the Great Hall opened loudly. Three people strode in. Two were men and one was a woman. They wore red cloaks that identified them as Aurors. James looked at them interestedly; he aspired to be an Auror. "Wonder what they're doing here?" he mused.

"Probably need to speak to Dumbledore about something," Lily suggested. This had happened before; Aurors often came to Hogwarts to use the library or to ask the Headmaster for advice.

This time, the Aurors made their way straight up to the teachers' table. The thirty-or-so students seated in the Great Hall looked up casually from their dinners to watch. One of the male Aurors whispered something to Dumbledore, whose face became grim. Professor McGongall, who was sitting next to him, covered her mouth with her hands. From what James and Lily could see, she looked distraught.

James and Lily received a big shock when Dumbledore stood up resignedly and made his way toward them, followed by the Aurors and Professor McGonagall. "Potter! Evans!" Professor McGonagall snapped, working hard to keep her emotions under control.

"Professor?" James asked, surprised.

"Do you know where Miss Fauchelevent and, I assume, Mr. Black might be?" Dumbledore asked quietly.

"Um…" James began.

"In the common room, probably," Lily interrupted.

James glanced at her. "Probably," he echoed, doubting very much that Sirius and Elysa would confine themselves to a room full of people when there was a mostly-empty castle all around them. James turned back to Dumbledore, McGonagall, and the Aurors, who all looked very stony faced. "Why? What's going on?" he asked.

Nobody answered him. "We'd best go up to the common room, then," said Dumbledore promptly, giving a small sigh.

He, McGonagall, and the Aurors started making their way across the Great Hall.

Lily and James glanced at one another. "What the hell's going on?" Lily whispered.

James shrugged. He was worried. "No idea… let's following them, shall we?"

Lily nodded adamantly and the two of them stood up and made their way across the Great Hall, hand in hand.

Up in the seventh-year boys' dormitory, Sirius and Elysa were lying on their backs side by side on Sirius's bed, wearing bathrobes (Elysa was wearing James's; she figured he wouldn't mind), and holding hands. They had taken a shower and now they were talking.

"I'll bet James _does_ end up marrying Lily," Sirius commented. "I remember in about – what was it, third year?"

"Third year… back when you were still a virgin," Elysa remarked.

"Back when _you_ were still a virgin," Sirius replied. Elysa giggled and Sirius squeezed her hand. If anybody had been watching them, they would have rolled their eyes at the mushiness of it all. Sirius and Elysa, however, did not seem to care.

"But anyway," Sirius continued, "we had just come back from the summer holidays and James realized how pretty Lily had gotten over the summer. He was sort of infatuated with her for about a month, and then he finally talked to her and made an ass out of himself and Lily decided she hated him... but James was completely enamored. It was ridiculous. He was like, 'Well, mates, I have some important news: I am going to marry Lily Evans.' And we all joked about it, of course… congratulated him, and such. Of course, Lily hated him, there was no getting around it. It was really sort of funny… not that we ever flat-out _teased _him; that would have been cruel. But…" Sirius exhaled slowly. He rolled over onto his side to look at Elysa, who was watching him in complete adoration, her dark eyes shining. He ran his hand over her loose curls and then under her bathrobe, caressing her stomach.

"That time in the library with Bella? When I came back here and told James and Moony and Peter about it, I told them I was going to marry you," he admitted.

Elysa laughed. "Did you? How… impassioned. I'm flattered."

Sirius grinned. He was leaning forward to kiss her as somebody knocked loudly on the door.

"Is that you, Prongs?" he called, leaning back and glancing over at the door as Elysa wrapped her arms around him and kissed him gently on the cheek. "Wait, hang on," Sirius murmured to her, his eyes twinkling, grinning. He turned back toward the door. "Who is it?" he called again.

"Professor Dumbledore," the Headmaster replied clearly.

Sirius and Elysa stared at one another, half in horror, half in amusement.

"Um… just a sec!" Sirius called. He and Elysa jumped off of the bed and pulled on their clothes. Elysa was pulling her still-damp hair back into a ponytail as Sirius strode to the door and pulled it open. "Good evening, Professor," he said pleasantly. "Can I help you?"

Dumbledore looked grave. "Is Miss Fauchelevent in here with you?" he asked.

Sirius's eyes darted to the side quickly. "Um… yes," he admitted, figuring there was no point in lying. Going into the dormitory of the opposite sex probably wasn't too big a deal anyway, he figured.

Elysa, hearing Sirius's confession, rolled her eyes and walked over to the door as well. "Good evening, Professor," she said cheerfully.

Dumbledore looked at her, his expression suddenly somewhat morose. "Miss Fauchelevent… would you be so kind as to come with me for a moment?"

"Um, sure," Elysa replied, glancing at Sirius, who looked very surprised that Dumbledore was not lecturing them.

Professor McGonagall came hurrying up the tower stairs. "Oh! Miss Fauchelevent!" she exclaimed. "Oh, thank goodness you found them, Dumbledore."

At this, Sirius and Elysa both raised their eyebrows. What was going on?

"Miss Fauchelevent, if you would come with us?" Dumbledore repeated.

Elysa glanced at Sirius. "Can he come too?" she asked, jerking a thumb at him.

Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore looked at one another. "Well," McGonagall said slowly, "I suppose so…"

Dumbledore sighed. "Very well. Mr. Black, Miss Fauchelevent, come with us, if you will."

Sirius and Elysa looked at one another once more, confused and now slightly worried; Dumbledore and McGonagall's stark attitudes were infectious. They followed the two teachers down the winding staircase and then out into the common room, where the three Aurors were standing, leaning against the couch and the back of a dark red arm chair. James and Lily were sitting on a loveseat against the wall, watching the Aurors.

"Oy!" James called when he saw Sirius, who glanced over at the sound of James's voice.

"What's going on?" James asked.

"Mr. Potter, please do not get involved," said Professor McGonagall briskly.

"What _is_ going on?" Elysa asked. She had taken Sirius's hand, and he could feel how nervous she was; she was gripping his hand so tightly it was turning white.

"Please come up to my office," Professor Dumbledore replied curtly. "Then we shall talk. Mr. Potter, Miss Evans, please stay here." Sirius and Elysa glanced back at James and Lily, who appeared puzzled. "Please," Dumbledore repeated. Sirius and Elysa looked at one another quickly and then followed Dumbledore, McGonagall, and the Aurors out through the portrait hole and up several stories until they reached the stone gargoyle that guarded the entrance to Dumbledore's office. "_Sugar quill_," Dumbledore muttered, and the gargoyle leapt aside to allow them passage.

The Aurors stayed behind. "We need to be getting back," the woman said. "We shall make the appropriate contacts…" Dumbledore nodded curtly.

"I shall be in contact with the Ministry shortly," he replied.

He and McGonagall ushered Sirius and Elysa up the moving staircase to Dumbledore's office and then through into the sitting room.

"Now, Miss Fauchelevent," Dumbledore began. "Please sit down…" Elysa did so, worry evident on her face. She had a shrewd suspicion what this was about, though she desperately hoped she was mistaken.

Dumbledore looked at her sadly. "Elysa… Voldemort has struck again. I am afraid that your family… your mother, father, Roland, Bianca, Celeste… are the victims."

Elysa stared at him. She felt as if her stomach had just disappeared. Despite her hunch, hearing him say it aloud still came as a shock. Elysa realized that she was breathing very heavily. "_What?_" she whispered.

"Your family has been killed," Dumbledore replied gently, trying to sound calm, though Sirius, who also felt as if he had been punched in the gut, and who also had suspected this ever since Dumbledore had refrained from lecturing them, noticed that the Professor's eyes were damp.

Elysa, meanwhile, let out a dry sob and collapsed onto the floor, sliding off of the couch. "_Merde_," she gasped, beginning to cry.

Sirius, never one to be self-conscious or hesitant, and Professor McGonagall, who could no longer hide her latent maternal instincts any longer, were both beside her in a flash. "Dear, dear, dear," McGonagall murmured, putting her arms around Elysa and rocking her gently back and forth. "It's awful… it's awful… it'll all be all right…"

She continued to whisper reassurances while Sirius sat down next to Elysa and held her limp hand.

Sirius sighed and looked over at Dumbledore, who was sitting on a large armchair massaging his forehead with his long fingers. Sirius felt devastated, and far more so than he would have felt had the parents of another friend of his been killed. He was far beyond pity for Elysa; he was furious – bloody furious – at Voldemort. All those newspaper articles and all of those murders had not been able to infuriate – or, indeed, significantly anger – him. With all of the other victims, Sirius had been aggravated: aggravated that a madman like Voldemort had still not been caught, aggravated that he seemed to be gaining support. None of the murders had hit home the way this one had.

It was only logical, of course. If James's parents or Peter's had been killed, Sirius would have felt similarly. But there was something about Elysa that made this feeling even stronger… Sirius loved James and Remus and Peter, but, he realized, he loved Elysa more. He would give his life for any of his friends, but he would give his life for Elysa first.

That was why this was so infuriating: because he would willingly do anything for her, but now there was nothing he could do.

* * *

Reviews, please… 


	14. The Consolation Begins

**I UPDATED!**

FYI, there's a lot of French in this chapter. If you don't speak French, learn it, pull up an online dictionary, or just skip those lines. (Don't worry; the story makes perfect sense without them.)

Moving on…

* * *

There was a knock on the study door. Dumbledore and Sirius looked up quickly; McGonagall did not, however, as she was still comforting Elysa, who was sobbing into her shoulder, all student-teacher pretenses forgotten.

Dumbledore cleared his throat as he walked across the room toward the door. Sirius had the impression that Dumbledore was expecting whoever it was that was knocking.

Dumbledore opened the door; outside were six people standing together, some looking sad and some looking angry. There was an elegant woman in a red silk cloak standing in front. She appeared to be the most collected.

"We 'ave 'eard ze news, Dumbledore," she said sadly in a thick French accent.

Dumbledore smiled sadly. "Ah… well, come in, come in…"

The woman entered the room, closely followed by two other women and three men. Though they were all of different ages – one of the men looked to be in his early twenties, one of the women looked to be past fifty, and the rest were somewhere in-between – they were all good-looking, well-dressed people. Despite their blatant sorrow (the older woman was sniffling hopelessly, one of the men kept wiping his eyes, and the rest fared no better), they looked strangely impressive walking into the sitting room.

Elysa, her face streaked with tears, looked up in surprise. "_Ely!_" the elegant woman cried, hurrying forward.

Elysa began to cry harder. She mumbled something in French as the elegant woman reached her.

"_Cherie, je sais. Je sais… Il sera bien_," the elegant woman murmured. Sirius and Professor McGonagall stepped back as she and the older woman knelt on either side of Elysa. The elegant woman pulled Elysa into her lap and began to whisper to her in French. The older woman squeezed her hand and began to speak to her as well. The other four people – the remaining woman and the three men – were all speaking to Dumbledore.

"So… what iz it that 'as 'appened, _exactemen_t?" one of the men asked. "We received notification from your Ministère zat zis 'Voldemort' 'as murdered Gerard, Marie _et_ _les enfants_... _Comment est-ce possible?_"

Dumbledore sighed. "_Voldemort a tué beaucoup de gens,_" he said, shaking his head slowly in sorrow. "_Je ne sais pas quand il s'arrêtera, mais…_" he trailed off.

Sirius was not even remotely surprised that Dumbledore spoke French. Lately, actually, it seemed that everybody spoke French but him.

Dumbledore had offered the four people seats and now appeared to be explaining the situation to them. Feeling that he had no place in that conversation, Sirius turned back to Elysa, who was still being rocked gently by the elegant woman, and whose sobs had died down to silent tears. She looked over the woman's shoulder at Sirius, who felt his heart break, seeing her in such distress. Elysa reached her hand out to him, and he took it.

The elegant woman and the older one turned to look at him, too. "_Qui est ceci?_" the elegant woman asked Elysa quietly, looking Sirius over with a quick and mostly-indifferent glance. Sirius forgave her the indifference; after all, the woman had other things on her mind.

"_Il s'appelle Sirius,"_ Elysa whispered.

"_Qui?_" the older woman asked, not quite making out Elysa's answer.

Elysa, who was still looking at Sirius with tears uncontrollably welling up and running down her cheeks, squeezed his hand. "_Mon ami_," she repeated. She gave Sirius a shaky smile, and he smiled back weakly. He wished he could do something more for her – _anything_.

By this point, the four other people had finished speaking with Dumbledore. They all looked very glum, but determined. "_Ely_," one of the men said. Elysa looked away from Sirius, though she did not let go of his hand, and over at the man.

She tried to smile but couldn't hold it for long before breaking into tears again. _Ely_… if only they wouldn't call her that. That was what her parents called her. That was what Roland and Bianca and Celeste called her. "_Ely, réveillez-vous!_" "_Ely, nous mangeons le dîner._""_Ely, jouerez-vous avec moi?_"

That was usually not what her relatives called her. They called her Lysie, or Elysa, just like the people at school. It was only when they were being affectionate or gentle, such as right now, or that time three summers ago when she had gotten sick and spent a week in bed, that any of them called her Ely.

And Sirius was the only person who called her Lys, though she wasn't sure why it was just him; "Lys" seemed like natural progression from "Lysie." Actually, when Elysa had thought about it a few days earlier, she had realized that she would feel strange if anybody other than Sirius called her "Lys." She hadn't been sure exactly why at the time.

The three men and the third woman had come over now, and the elegant woman had helped Elysa to her feet. Everybody was embracing her and telling her that everything would be alright. They had heard the news and had come by flu and by Apparition straight away, they explained. The six of them present – _Tante_ Cerise, the elegant woman; _gran-tante_ Renée, the older woman; Serena, Elysa's father's cousin, the third woman; _oncle_ Harman, one of the men; _oncle_ Orville, the man who had begun talking to Dumbledore in English; and Alixandre, Elysa's cousin, the younger man – had been in close vicinity of Paris when _tante_ Cerise had learned of the murders, and had thus Apparated to _tante_ Cerise's office as soon as they had heard the news. The six of them, minus _oncle _Orville's wife, _tante_ Austine, who could not leave her children unattended, had Apparated in stages all the way to the Ministry of Magic in London, where they had met with the three Aurors briefly before traveling by flu powder to Dumbledore's office to take care of their neice/cousin/first-cousin-once-removed.

Sirius, who was no longer holding Elysa's hand, had turned away from her reunion with her relatives to glance at Professor McGonagall. McGonagall's expression was one of deep remorse mingled with relief. After all, it could not have been more obvious that Elysa was in good hands; considering the circumstances, of course, Elysa could not have been a better position. She was an orphan now – and at this thought Professor McGonagall felt a few new tears form at her eyes – but she had scores and scores of loving, caring relatives who would make sure that she would get along and be healthy.

Professor McGonagall looked over at Sirius, who she had noticed was watching her. She hadn't quite appreciated before how close Sirius and Elysa were to one another. All of her observations over the last six-plus years had shown Sirius to be something of a playboy, going out with different girls ever fortnight and doing god-knows-what with each one. And Elysa… she was a good student, and smart, but it hadn't been until this past year that she had really become confident.

Professor McGonagall had noticed at one point that Sirius Black had started dating Elysa Fauchelevent, and she hadn't given it a second thought. At one point months later, after coming upon the two of them making out in an empty classroom (something that she found students doing far too often), she had realized that Sirius had been dating Elysa for a lot longer than he did most girls. However, she still did not think much of it.

Now she did. There was just something about the way Sirius and Elysa acted toward one another that just seemed… intimate. Mature. Something. Professor McGonagall wondered how affected Sirius was by the murder of Elysa's family. She looked at him and knew it straight away from the look in his eyes: he was devastated.

Elysa's relatives had now found themselves seats and were settling down to speak with Dumbledore some more. _Tante_ Cerise had Elysa by her side, and Elysa rested her head on her aunt's shoulder, her face red and puffy, blowing her nose occasionally on the handkerchief her cousin Alixandre had given her and looking exhausted from all of her crying. Despite her feeble efforts, tears kept leaking out, and so she was still wiping her eyes constantly.

When one of Elysa's uncles began to speak with Dumbledore in French again, Professor McGonagall said, "Mr. Black, perhaps we should return to the common room now?"

Sirius looked back up at her. "What?" he said. "Oh, right… I guess so…"

Elysa looked at Sirius; she did not want him to leave. But then again, he wasn't going to be able to remotely participate in the discussion her uncles were now staging with Dumbledore. Sirius looked back at Elysa, wanting to know how she felt about him leaving. Elysa swallowed and wiped her eyes, not taking her eyes off of his face. Sirius understood her sentiments. "Don't worry; I'll be waiting for you back in the common room," he said. "I'll see you really soon."

Elysa smiled shakily and wiped her eyes again. "Okay," she mumbled, barely moving her lips; she was exhausted. Being devastated took a lot out of you.

Aunt Cerise stroked Elysa's back soothingly as Professor McGonagall ushered Sirius out of the sitting room. Elysa watched him go, wanting more than anything to go with him. Though she felt very safe and loved surrounded by the relatives who had flocked to her aid, she would feel more content with him.

Elysa listened dully to the conversation her uncles were now staging with Dumbledore. They wanted to take her back to France soon, for the remainder of Easter break if possible, perhaps for a few weeks into the continuation of term until everything had been sorted out. Elysa was too tired to think very hard about what they were saying; she would think about it later.

_Tante_ Cerise noticed that Elysa was almost falling asleep through her silent tears and nose blowing. Elysa felt dazed with exhaustion as _tante _Cerise told the others that her _Ely_ needed to sleep, that this could all be discussed in the morning. By this point, it was nearly midnight. Elysa did not resist as Professor McGonagall, _tante_ Cerise, and Alixandre led her back through the halls of Hogwarts toward the Gryffindor common room.

* * *

Sirius had arrived at the Gryffindor common room an hour earlier not knowing what to do with himself.

"Oy! What happened?" James called as Sirius climbed back through the portrait hole.

Lily noticed the disturbed look on Sirius's face the moment he turned toward them. "Sirius!" she exclaimed. "What is it?"

Sirius sighed and flopped down on the couch next to them. "Lysie's family… Voldemort got them," he said dully.

Lily and James stared at him, open-mouthed in shock. "That's _terrible_," Lily whispered. "Oh, poor, poor Lysie…"

James didn't say anything; he was watching Sirius closely. Sirius was staring at the flames crackling in the fireplace. He suddenly let out a moan and buried his face in his hands. "I don't know what to do," he whispered. "I just don't know what to do…"

Lily put a comforting hand on his shoulder. She was feeling quite shaken up by this instance and wasn't exactly sure what to do herself. James stood up and came over to Sirius's other side and patted his back. "Don't worry, mate," he said soothingly. "It'll be all right… we're here for you; we're here for _both_ of you… and she has all that family; she'll be fine…"

Sirius rubbed his forehead and rested his chin on his palm to stare at the fire again. "Yeah… but… I don't know… the look on her face when Dumbledore told her…" he shuddered and buried his face in his hands again.

James and Lily glanced at one another over his hunched back. Lily had tears in her eyes; she couldn't help it. Her throat had gone dry and she felt as if she had been punched in the gut. James sighed sadly and turned to watch the flames in the hearth.

"We'll wait for her with you, Sirius," Lily offered.

Sirius made a muffled noise which Lily took as an "okay."

And so the minutes passed. Lily and James both fell asleep eventually, but Sirius hardly noticed. He was staring intently at the dying embers in the grate. Slowly, the common room emptied around them, until only Sirius and the sleeping James and Lily, who were sprawled on opposite ends of the long couch, remained.

The clock on the mantel struck midnight. Sirius watched the minute hand as it slowly ticked on: one minute, two, three, four… He gave up just as the portrait swung open and Professor McGonagall, Elysa's elegant aunt, and her young cousin entered, leading Elysa herself. Sirius jumped up and hurried over.

"…just needs to get some rest," _tante_ Cerise was saying to Professor McGonagall. Elysa saw Sirius and broke away from her aunt. Sirius put out his arms and Elysa rushed into them, and he held her for a long moment. _Tante _Cerise and Alixandre gave the merest hints of sad smiles.

"Right… well, she ought to just go up to bed, I don't see what else…" Professor McGonagall trailed off. "Though I suppose one of us ought to–"

"I'll take care of her," Sirius interrupted. He didn't care what they thought of him, but damned if he wasn't going to do _anything_. Elysa said something muffled into his shoulder, and Sirius stroked her back reassuringly.

"Ah… well, Mr. Black," Professor McGonagall said, turning to _tante_ Carise. "I'm afraid male students cannot go up the stairs to the female dormitories…"

"She can sleep in mine," Sirius said, keeping his voice completely steady. "Nobody's there tonight but me anyway; James fell asleep on the couch, as you see…" He stopped stroking Elysa's back to jerk his thumb toward James's sleeping figure. Then he started stroking it again. "And besides," he continued, "all of her roommates are gone for break; you can't make her sleep in there _alone_…"

Sirius felt Elysa tighten her grip around his waist. He had been right: she really, _really_ didn't want to be alone.

Professor McGonagall gave a look of not wanting to drag this out any longer than necessary.

"Ah… _cher_, what say you?" _tante _Cerise asked Elysa gently.

Elysa turned her face, which was still tearstained, away from Sirius's chest to look at her aunt. She nodded bluntly.

_Tante _Cerise gave a sad smile. "Well… _bonne nuit, Ely_. Sleep safely."

Elysa smiled vaguely and gave an enormous yawn. Her face felt stiff from all of the tears she had shed. She knew she probably looked like crap, but she didn't particularly care at the moment. As Sirius put his arm around her and led her slowly up the stairs to the boys' dormitories for the second time that day, Elysa wanted only to lie down and never get up again.

When they reached the seventh year boys' dormitory, Sirius led Elysa inside and sat her down on his bed. Elysa leaned on her hands and stared at a spot on the wall, too tired to think anymore. Sirius strode toward the door. "_Accio pajamas!_" he said.

Elysa giggled; she couldn't help it. It was a funny incantation.

Soon enough, her silk nightgown came speeding down the hallway from her dormitory. Elysa wondered vaguely whether anybody had noticed it flying through the air. Sirius turned to smile at her as he caught it.

Elysa yawned enormously. She felt her eyelids beginning to droop as Sirius came back over to her. "Just get into your PJs, then you can sleep," he said gently.

Elysa rubbed her eyes, trying to stay awake, and looked up at him. "Help me," she said dully.

Sirius smiled slightly. "Okay," he agreed. He slid off her shirt and helped her with her bra and pulled her nightgown over her head, smoothing it down over her stomach. Elysa, her eyes barely open now, kicked off her shoes and skirt, took her hair down, straightened her nightgown, and crawled to the head of Sirius's bed, where she flopped under the covers and closed her eyes.

Sirius moved her discarded clothes over to the dresser and then got into his own pajamas.

As soon as Elysa closed her eyes she started thinking again. She thought about her parents and her brother and her sisters, of how they must have screamed when Voldemort arrived to murder them. Elysa began to cry again.

Sirius, who had just finished changing, hurried over to her. "Hey," he said, sitting down next to her and running his fingers through her tangled hair.

Elysa could not stop sobbing. The moment's rest she had just taken had completely rejuvenated her sorrow. Vaguely, Elysa wondered if she would get _any_ sleep tonight.

Sirius crawled into bed next to her and put his arms around her. "Shhh," he murmured. "It'll be okay… just sleep, Lys, just sleep…"

Elysa cried into his chest, leaving a damp spot on his T-shirt. Sirius stroked her hair and wondered vaguely if Elysa would get any sleep tonight.

"I… just… c – can't…" Elysa gasped at last, "I c – can't stop thinking… about… about…" She drew a long, shuddering breath, trying to get herself under control. "Did they… did they… _suffer_? Or…" She started crying again, not able to stop herself. Images of Roland and Bianca and Celeste, screaming in terror and pain, were flooding through her head.

"I'm sure they didn't," Sirius said quickly. "I'm sure it was… really quick…"

Elysa drew another shuddering breath. She looked up at Sirius, her face streaked with tears and her eyes puffier than ever. She was holding onto him as if he were a lifeline. "S – Sirius," she whispered. "I... I sh – should have d – died, too… if I had gone b – back…"

Sirius shivered involuntarily and held her closer. As he gazed into her sorrowful dark eyes, he knew that she was right. It was an obvious fact, but he hadn't gotten around to thinking it straight-out yet: if Elysa had returned to see her family as she was supposed to do for Easter break, she would have been killed.

_What would I do then?_ Sirius thought to himself.

He did not know.

"Well, you didn't go back; you're okay," he replied, his voice oddly choked.

Elysa looked at him imploringly, tears still leaking out of her eyes. "He w – wanted to kill us all… my whole f – family here in E – England… _t _– _tante_ Cerise s – said so... _oncle _B – Brice and c – cousin Cardell h – had to g – go back to F – France until it's s – safe… Sirius, wh – what am I going to _do_?"

Sirius let out a shaky breath and kissed her forehead gently. "You'll do what your family says," he said quietly. "They'll protect you."

Elysa began to cry into his shoulder. Sirius stroked her hair some more and said, "It's okay… don't worry, Lysie; don't worry… I'm _know_ your _tante_ Cerise will keep take care of you…"

Elysa tightened her grip on him again. She was shuddering with the effort of crying. "But I want to be able to see you," she whispered.

Sirius felt as if he were going to cry now, too. "Hey, you will," he said gently. "You'll have to finish school, for starters…"

Elysa looked at him, their faces inches apart. A few strands of wavy hair had gotten wet and were stuck to her cheek; Sirius slid his hand along her silk nightgown up to her face and pushed them behind her ear.

Elysa took a deep breath. Then she said, "Sirius… what if she m – makes me leave H – Hogwarts? She m – might w – want me to go to B – Beauxbatons or… something…"

Sirius felt his stomach turn uncomfortably. "She won't," he said, trying to sound very confident. "What's the point? You're just as safe here as you would be there…"

Elysa sighed shakily. Her aunt knew this, of course, but she might still decide it was better for Elysa to be in the home country rather than oh-so-far away in Britain.

Neither of them spoke for a few minutes. Sirius traced his fingers over Elysa's back while she closed her eyes and tried to breathe more evenly.

"I don't know why he had to go after _my_ family," she whispered at last, her eyes closed, finally managing to keep her voice steady. "I thought… I thought he was trying to _protect_ people like us… I thought he _wanted_ purity of blood…"

She drew a shuddering breath and snuggled closer to Sirius. "Why did he do it?" she repeated, her voice oddly high-pitched. "I just don't understand…"

Sirius wasn't sure what to say. He did not know the answer to her question, for starters; attacking the oldest wizarding family in Europe when one was preaching purity of blood just made no sense. Sirius was sure there was some other reason behind Voldemort's attack, but, as he did not know anything specific, and as he did not want to make Elysa start sobbing again when she was finally beginning to calm down, he kept quiet.

Elysa hugged herself and rolled onto her back, gazing up at the dark canopy overhead. Her mind was spinning. She was trying not to think about her family, but she kept thinking, by default, about Voldemort, and every time she thought about him she imagined him arriving at her house in Kent and murdering her parents and Roland and Bianca and Celeste. She kept forcing her mind away from that scene and back to Voldemort, and so her stream of thought was, "Voldemort kills people. He killed my… Voldemort kills people. He killed my... Voldemort killed my… _merde_, what am I going to do? Voldemort… he killed… AH!"

Sirius kept his arms around her. He stared at her profile intently, trying to discern what she was thinking. Elysa suddenly gave a shaky gasp and covered her face with her hands. "Sirius," she mumbled. "Don't ever leave me."

Sirius opened his mouth. He didn't say anything for a moment. Elysa wrapped her arms around herself again and turned her head to look at him. She did not know what she wanted him to say, but hopefully something that would help her relax and fall asleep and forget all of this until morning.

Sirius looked at her in the darkness for a moment. He could make out the contours of her neck, her chin, her nose, her mouth, her tangled hair spread on the pillow. He leaned forward and kissed her forehead softly, as a parent kisses a small child, and he said quietly, "Elysa, I love you. I will always love you. I will always be there for you. I will always take care of you. And you don't ever have to worry, because, I _promise_, I will never let anything bad happen to you again."

He had hit home. Elysa stared back at him in the darkness, suddenly feeling much calmer. She brought her hand to his face and ran her fingers down his cheek. Then, in a flash, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him soundly. It only lasted a moment; the next second, Elysa Fauchelevent, feeling close to collapse with exhaustion and momentarily forgetting all of her fears, snuggled more deeply into her beloved's arms and fell asleep.

* * *

A/N: don't worry; the story gets happier (sort of) again soon.

...Review, please?

tulips car - I shall!

tresdrole - diddo!

Mystress of the Dark - thanks!

StringBean458 - yeah well, stuff came up.

Wolf Goddess of the night a... - indeed!

dixio - can do!

sPinnErs-eNdx - likewise!


	15. Of Sorrow and Introductions

Sirius awoke the next morning to find Elysa curled up against him, in the same position she had been in when she had fallen asleep the night before. Her face was still a bit puffy from all of her crying. Sirius did not want her to wake up; there was no reason for her to remember the events of the night before any sooner than necessary. Perhaps Madam Pomfrey could give her something to help her fall asleep again… Sirius wondered vaguely whether they had given her anything the night before.

He got out of bed carefully, so as not to disturb her, and went into the bathroom to brush his teeth. When he came out again, Elysa was still sleeping, her loose curls lying around her head like a golden-brown halo. Sirius walked over and sat down on James's bed to watch her.

She was so beautiful, even with a puffy face and limp hair. Sirius sighed slightly. Elysa did not deserve to have bad things happen to her. _Out of all the students at the school, why her?_ he thought. Why not _him_, for example?

_Because your family _supports _Voldemort_, he reminded himself. _They could have been involved in killing Lysie's family, for all I know. _

Sirius really, _really_ hoped that this was not the case; he wasn't sure if he could live with himself if it was. _Talk about tragic irony_,he thought wryly. Sirius decided to get dressed and take it from there.

As he rooted through his bureau, he remembered Remus. Shit, they were supposed to have gone out there to see him last night… not that it really mattered, Sirius realized. Remus would definitely understand when they explained why they hadn't made it.

Sirius wondered vaguely where James and Lily were at the moment. The last he had checked, they had fallen asleep in the common room… perhaps they were still asleep, or maybe they had gone down to the Great Hall to eat breakfast.

Sirius glanced at the clock. It was just past ten o'clock in the morning, later than he had expected. He was usually awake out of habit before now.

Elysa stirred. Sirius heard her and turned around at once.

Elysa stretched and yawned and opened her eyes. "Good morning," she remarked cheerfully, noticing him.

Then she took in a sharp breath, remembering the events of the day before. She sat up in bed and glanced around the room quickly, as if looking for something. Her eyes landed on her clothes from the day before, which lay next to Sirius's dresser where he had put them.

"_Shit_," Elysa whispered. She looked at Sirius. "So it _wasn't_ all a dream?" she asked, her voice pleading.

Sirius wasn't sure what to say. Part of him wanted to answer, "What on earth are you talking about? _What_ wasn't all a dream?" He did not want to say this sadistically, or even sarcastically, but rather because he loved Elysa and did not want her to mourn.

Of course, he would not _really_ pretend to not know what she meant; it was just a fleeting thought. Sirius figured he would just shake his head and try to reassure her.

He shook his head.

Elysa's face crumpled. She looked so sad that Sirius almost regretted not having lied.

"This time yesterday, I had a family," Elysa mused desperately, staring at the dark red comforter. Tears were leaking out of her eyes again.

Sirius was beside her in an instant. "Lys, don't cry. It's going to be all right… your relatives are here; we'll go and see _tante_ Cerise, okay?"

Elysa turned her head to look at him. "I don't want to," she mumbled. She shook her head slowly and turned back to stare at the comforter. Was it only yesterday that she and Sirius had lain here naked, without a care in the world?

"I just want to… I just want to stay here," Elysa muttered. She barked out a mirthless laugh. "Ha! As long as I'm wanting things, I want my family to be alive and I want Voldemort to not exist and I want all of this to have been just a bad dream…" She turned to look at Sirius again. "Things sure change quickly, huh?" Elysa remarked. Tears were pouring out now; she could not stop herself.

Sirius put his arms around her. He let her cry into his shoulder for a little while, trying to figure out what to do. Get her aunt? No… Elysa needed to get up first, she needed to _do_ something, otherwise she would never get out of her depression.

She needed to take a shower.

"Lys, go take a shower," Sirius said gently. "It'll make you feel better."

"I don't want to," Elysa whispered.

"You have to," Sirius replied. "Seriously, it'll help..." It would, he knew. When he had first run away from/been kicked out of home he had felt depressed for a while, but a shower _always_ had calmed him down and helped him to relax.

Elysa shook her head. "I really don't feel like–"

"I'll come with you," Sirius interrupted, kissed her cheek. "Don't worry; you won't have to face the shower alone…"

Elysa couldn't help but smile through her tears. She allowed him to lead her out of bed and across the dormitory to the bathroom, where she examined herself in the mirror for a long moment while Sirius got the water started.

Damn, she looked like crap. Her hair was a tangled mess, her face was red, and her eyes were puffy. "I look like crap," Elysa remarked feebly, trying an attempt at humor that probably would have been more successful had she been able to say it more forcefully.

Sirius came over and stood behind her. He slid his arms around her waist, holding her by the stomach. Then he rested his chin on her left shoulder and examined their reflections in the mirror.

"I think you look _very_ attractive," he remarked.

Elysa sniffed. She didn't really care _what_ she looked like; she just felt depressed.

"Really, you're beautiful," Sirius said gently, spinning her around to face him. Elysa leaned back against the marble sink counter and looked at him, her eyes very wet.

She wanted to tell him to stop patronizing her, or to stop trying to make her feel better, or to just _be quiet_, but the look in his eyes stopped her. She saw complete and unbridled honesty staring back at her, and she knew that whatever he said was not meant to be in the slightest way cruel. Elysa remembered what Sirius had told her the night before: that he loved her, that he would take care of her, that he would never leave her... She felt again that strange sense of peace that came with the knowledge that whatever she did, and whatever others might do, she would always have Sirius.

And so, instead of telling him to shut up, Elysa said, rather desperately, "I love you."

Sirius smiled and gave her a long kiss. Elysa was feeling relaxed again. Then she felt guilty about being vaguely content when her entire family was dead.

She forced her thoughts aside. _I'll heal with time… I'll always have Sirius…_

Sirius pulled back eventually. Behind him, clouds of steam were issuing from the open shower. "Now take your shower," Sirius commanded her gently.

Elysa nodded and pulled off her nightgown while Sirius dug around in a cabinet under the sink for a new bar of soap. "The one in there's disgusting," he explained, handing it to Elysa.

She smiled bleakly and took it without comment. She climbed into the limestone shower and shut the glass door.

The hot water woke her up at once. Elysa leaned against the cool tile wall, trying to steady her breathing once again. Had it been only yesterday that they had stood in this shower together, laughing and joking and kissing one another over and over again?

Sirius had washed her hair for her, Elysa remembered. Then he'd held her against this same cool tile wall and kissed her passionately for about two minutes until she finally pushed him back, laughing, and said that she would really like to be able to breath again…

Elysa leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes, everything flooding back. They had put on those bathrobes and Sirius had dried her hair with a towel until she had told him to stop; he was going to make her bald. And he had dropped the towel on the ground and spun her toward him and kissed her again, for another full two minutes, and then they went back into the dormitory and lay on his bed and talked and kissed one another until that goddamn Dumbledore had had to show up and tell her that her family had _fucking been killed_.

Elysa sighed. Why was her life so fucked up?

"Lysie? You okay in there?" Sirius called.

Elysa glanced toward the shower door. "Yes!" she affirmed briskly. She reached for the shampoo and began to wash her hair.

When she had finished her shower, Elysa felt surprisingly better. She was still full of grief, of course, but now she could, at the very least, face her relatives.

"Done?" Sirius asked when Elysa turned off the water.

"Yep," Elysa replied. Her wet hair was hanging down her back in a long, dripping sheet. She wrung it out with her hands, twisting it hard, and examined a strand. Now it was wavy.

She stepped out of the shower to find Sirius waiting for her with a fresh white towel. "Here you go," he said, holding it out and trying not to stare too much at her. It was quite difficult; she looked really, really hot.

Elysa laughed at the look on his face as she pulled the towel around her. "You owe me," she remarked. "Next time you're going to be the naked one…"

"Sounds great," Sirius replied cheerfully, enlivened by the observation that Elysa was no longer as depressed as before, as well as by the suggestiveness of her comment. (After all, boys will be boys.) Elysa smiled at him.

Then she sighed and walked over to the sink. "Sirius, I'm not sure what I want to do," she admitted, finding a comb and running it through her wet hair so that the waves became more pronounced. "I don't want to be depressed forever. And really, I… I wouldn't be seeing my family until end-of-term, _anyway_…"

She realized how callous this sounded and gasped in sorrow, covering her face with her hands. Sirius came over to her and massaged her bare shoulders. "Don't feel guilty, Lys…"

Elysa leaned back into him, and he slid his arms around her from behind and held her there, safely against his chest. Through her towel, she could feel his heart beating against her back.

She took her hands away from her face and looked in the mirror. Sirius was so handsome, with his shaggy dark hair hanging casually around his strongly-featured face… She had always noticed how good-looking he was, even in years past when he hadn't known who she was and she hadn't particularly cared. To Elysa, he had just been Sirius Black, hottest guy in the school, the guy all the girls wanted to date.

He had been a good-looking, smart, confident playboy, someone Elysa noticed but had no real interest in. She had liked Remus, actually, for a while in fourth and fifth year… actually, right up until that last summer. After all, he was very nice to her, and she had found his intelligence and good nature quite appealing…

But Remus had lacked one thing that Sirius had, and that was the ability to sweep Elysa off her feet.

(Also, Sirius was better-looking, but Elysa wasn't so shallow as to judge people solely on appearance.)

Actually, it was partly because of Remus that Elysa had outgrown being nobody. She had known she was beautiful; she had only to look at her cousins to see what Fauchelevent genes did to you. Besides, she had been lonely; she loved her friends, but wanted more excitement. In all five years of school, Elysa had only been on about a dozen dates. She had only been kissed once, by a Ravenclaw boy named Samuel Elliot during third year. (That relationship broke off soon after because he was too shy to act as if he liked her in public. What a wimp.)

In France she was confident without trying to be; she was surrounded by gorgeous cousins who were the epitome of cool in their normal lives and who loved her unconditionally. It was enough to make even the most diffident person feel exuberant.

Taking the train home at the end of term the year before, Elysa had realized that she was no longer shy. It was a sudden, oh-you-must-be-growing-up sort of thing. She had suddenly realized that she had no _reason_ to be shy: she was almost certainly beautiful, and she already knew how fun life could be if one only opened up.

In France, her cousin Nathalie, three years Elysa's senior, had noticed. Later, she had confided in Elysa that she herself had undergone the same transformation three years prior. "And seriously, Lysie, it's ridiculous how quickly people catch on," she had said. "First week back at school and I already had half the male population after me. The same thing'll happen to you, I guarantee it… after all, you're a Fauchelevent, Lysie; you're destined to be hot."

Elysa had smiled.

Nathalie was one of Elysa's favorite cousins (or technically second cousins); they had similar personalities and weren't quite as crazy as the rest of the teenaged-to-mid-twenties relatives (A/N: stay tuned for more on that). Nathalie lived in Switzerland during the regular year and was tall and slender with sleek, shiny mahogany hair and beautiful violet-blue eyes.

And then that morning on the Hogwarts express, when Elysa had wandered unwittingly into Sirius, Remus, James, and Peter's compartment, she had been shocked at how quickly Sirius Black's charm had worked on her. Back up in the castle at dinner, she had decided to just go ahead and flirt with him; it couldn't do any harm, and he was clearly asking for it…

But then there was that incident in the library, where Bellatrix Black had tried to recruit Elysa to the dark side, and Elysa had suddenly realized in a moment of blinding clarity that there was a lot more to Sirius Black than first met the eye. She had been intrigued despite herself, and so when he asked her out the next day she had said yes.

And later, down at the lake… Elysa still was not sure what had happened. There was just something about how honest he was with her, and how quickly they seemed to click, and how, well, _hot_ he was… All Elysa knew was that, by the time they had arrived back up at the castle after kissing one another on the shore for the first time, she had completely fallen for him.

Of course, that had just been the beginning. Every time she talked to him after that, Elysa had just fallen more in love with him, and she knew that he was falling more in love with her. It was a wonderful, never-ending cycle.

And now this tragedy had had to happen, leaving Elysa with nobody in the world. Well, except for those scores of relatives…

Gazing at the reflection of Sirius holding her tightly, kissing the top of her head, taking her hand in his, Elysa suddenly knew that, regardless of what her relatives insisted, she would never leave him. She was _not_ going to return to France after graduation; she was _not_ going to leave Hogwarts to attend Beauxbatons (if _tante_ Cerise insisted on such). She was going to stay with Sirius for better or for worse, in sickness and in health.

Sirius did not know what was going through Elysa's head, but when she turned her head and brought her hand to his cheek and kissed him tenderly, he certainly did not mind.

Elysa pulled back after a few moments.

"Is that all?" Sirius whispered.

Elysa grinned slightly. Her eyes were shining again.

She really was beautiful, her damp hair hanging in long, wavy strands around her perfect face… Sirius had been amazed that day on the train by the fact that he had never noticed her before.

He slid his hands to her waist and turned her around so that she was facing him. He ran his fingers through her damp waves of hair, and she sat down on the sink counter. Sirius cupped her chin in his palm.

Elysa smiled sweetly at him. _Oh, how pleasant it was to just let Sirius do things to her and forget her misery…_

Sirius kissed Elysa, gently at first but then more and more intensely, until she wrapped her arms around his neck and let her towel fall slide down to her waist.

Elysa never wanted this to end. She wanted to stay caught up in the feeling of Sirius kissing her and forget all of her woes.

Eventually, however, they both had to pull back; they needed to catch their breath. They kept their arms around one another, Elysa still sitting on the sink counter and Sirius standing against it, her bare legs straddling his waist.

Sirius glanced down at her bare chest. Elysa smiled slightly; if he wanted to look, she had no qualms. Then Sirius turned his focus back to her face and said, shaking his head in minor disbelief, "I really, really love you, Lysie."

Elysa laughed. It felt so good to actually laugh that she got caught up in the moment. Before she knew it, Sirius had his shirt off, too, and then his pajama bottoms, and she had let the towel tumble behind her into the sink, and Elysa was no longer thinking about her family at all.

Sirius held Elysa tightly in his arms as she wrapped her legs around his waist, and then he pushed her against the smooth tile of the bathroom wall and then… well…. let's keep this PG-13, shall we?

Meanwhile, down in the Great Hall, James and Lily were eating breakfast and feeling very dispirited. They had awoken to find themselves on the couch in the common room, a place neither of them had slept before.

"Did 'Lysa's family get killed, or was that a dream?" James had asked Lily dully. Lily had sighed and glanced at the clock on the mantle. It was almost ten o'clock in the morning; she had slept in.

"It happened, I think," Lily said, feeling very low. "And we ought to go down to breakfast… get a hold of the _Daily Prophet_ or something… chances are there'll be something in there about it…"

They left the common room without further ado (as they hadn't bothered getting into their pajamas the night before and as Lily didn't particularly care to redo her makeup at the moment, there was no reason to go back upstairs and change) and headed down the corridor.

When they reached the Great Hall, which contained the sparse number of students who had not yet eaten breakfast milling around and talking to one another, they both glanced over at the teacher's table, which had been set with more places than usual. There were an older woman and a young man sitting at two places next to Professor McGonagall. They were both quite good-looking people, and they were reading a copy of what looked like the _Daily Prophet_ between them.

"Wonder who they are?" James remarked.

Lily looked at him incredulously. "Lysie's relatives, of course! Let's go ask them what's going on."

James stared at her. "_Talk _to the bereaved? Are you joking? I mean, speaking of _awkward_…"

Lily shrugged. "Well, we can just offer our condolences… ask where Lysie is, and so on… besides, if they're anything like her they'll probably be quite friendly…"

James nodded grudgingly. "Okay, but you do the talking."

Lily smiled. "That's what I'm here for."

James rolled his eyes and took her hand. They made their way across the Great Hall toward the teacher's table.

"Good morning, Mr. Potter; Miss Evans," Professor McGonagall said, looking up at them and sounding very tired.

The man and woman glanced up, too. Lily gave the man a second glance; he was exceptionally attractive, rather like a male version of Elysa. He had the same curly golden-brown hair, dark eyes, and perfectly-toned skin. James noticed Lily's actions and rolled his eyes again.

Lily turned away from the man before he could figure out what she was doing (though she knew that James had noticed; she had seen him roll his eyes in her peripheral vision) and back to McGonagall. "Good morning, Professor," she said. "Er… we were wondering how Elysa was…"

The older woman had turned back to the _Daily Prophet_; the younger man, however, was still observing the conversation.

"_Que signifie_ 'Dark Mark'" the woman murmured. The young man glanced over as she pointed to the phrase on the page.

"'_Marque foncée'... c'est son symbole_," he told her quickly.

The woman nodded in understanding and then continued reading; the man turned back to James, Lily, and Professor McGonagall, though he did not say anything.

Professor McGonagall seemed to be considering Lily's question. "As well as can be expected," she said sharply.

"Um… do you know where she is?" Lily asked. "I mean… is she okay? Can we go and talk to her?"

Professor McGonagall inspected Lily curiously. "No, she has yet to come down for breakfast, Miss Evans… I do say she is probably exhausted after the trauma of last night…"

"Oh… well, what was it that happened exactly? Sirius told us that her family had been…" Lily glanced at the handsome man and the middle-aged woman quickly before continuing; she did not want to say anything offensive. "…had, um, been killed…" she finished quietly.

Professor McGonagall looked at Lily sadly. "Yes, Evans, I am afraid that Mr. Black told you correctly."

"What was 'is name?" the man asked, turning to look at Professor McGonagall and then at Lily. He had a very cute French accent.

"Who? Sirius?" Lily asked, turning to look at him again. _Damn, if Elysa and Sirius's children end up looking like this… _she thought vaguely.

"Sirius Black," James substituted, looking the man in the eye.

The young man appeared to be thinking this over. James could not tell if the name "Black" rang a bell for him or not. He never figured it out, for the man then smiled (Lily noticed that he had dimples, just like Elysa) and asked, "Are ze two of you friends wiz Lysie?"

James and Lily nodded adamantly. "And Sirius Black, too," Lily added. "So… anything we can do…"

The young man smiled a bit more. He turned to the older woman and murmured something to her in French; the woman looked up from the _Daily Prophet_ and glanced at James and Lily.

"'ello," she said with a thick accent, smiling and nodding to them.

"'er English ees not as good," the man explained. "German, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, you name eet, but _l'anglais_…" he trailed off.

"Oh! We speak French!" Lily said, a bit too exuberantly. "_Nous parlons français!_"

"Not this early in the morning, though," James said quickly. "I mean, later, sure, but…"

The young man laughed. "I understand," he said. "_Je comprends_." He paused and glanced at his watch. "Ten and thirty…" he remarked. Then he turned back to James and Lily. "So… what are your names?"

"I'm Lily," said Lily quickly.

"James," said James.

The young man smiled. "Call me Alix. I am Lysie's cousin."

"Ah… how many, um, relatives of Lysie's came up here?" Lily asked hesitantly.

Alix smiled. "_Six_," he said, holding up six fingers, "but ze ozzer four are still in bed or else 'ave gone to… 'ow you say it in English? Send _un hibou_ to ze rest of ze family."

"An owl," said James quickly.

"_Mais oui_," Alixandre said, nodding. "_Tante_ Cerise is sending owls to… well, all of ze others." He smiled slightly, and then remarked, "Zat ees a lot of people."

Lily was glancing at James, her eyebrows raised. She hadn't known that he knew French vocabulary as obscure as the names of birds. But then again, James probably knew far more French than she did; he was the one whose wealthy family tutored their children in French in the style of classic European aristocracy. His accent may have been atrocious, but James's speech was otherwise flawless.

Elysa's cousin – Alix, was it? – suddenly said something quickly to the older woman (Lily could not quite pick out the words) as he turned toward the marble staircase of the Great Hall. Lily looked over, too, and saw two more highly good-looking people sweep majestically down the steps. They caught sight of Alix and the older woman at once and strode briskly across the floor toward them.

"_Bonjour, Alix; tante Renée; Minerve_," said one of them, a man who looked to be in his late thirties.

Professor McGonagall looked up sharply and smiled. "Ah… good morning, Orville… and… er…"

"Harman," the second man, who looked to be over forty, substituted graciously.

"Ah, yes, my apologies," said Professor McGonagall, nodding. "I _do_ hope you slept well…"

The two men smiled. "As well as could 'ave been expected," the one called Orville said.

"Ze beds were quite comfortable," added Harman. "Indeed, Serena is still asleep. Though I am thinking that Cerise will wake her when she ees done wiz sending ze... ze…" He frowned and turned to the other man. "_Orville, comment est–_"

"Owl," Alix interrupted. "_Papa_, I am surprised at you…" He shook his head slowly, pretending to be appalled.

Lily smiled and barely stifled a giggle. James glanced at her, his eyebrows raised in amusement. He shook his head slowly. Then he leaned close to her and whispered, "Ooh, you are so smitten…"

Lily giggled again and pushed him away. "I am not," she whispered back. "He's just really, really adorable…"

James rolled his eyes again.

Elysa's relatives had continued talking, and Lily and James turned back to the conversation.

"Oh, _papa_; _oncle Orville_," Alix said suddenly. "Zese are friends of Lysie. _Elle est _Lily _et il est _James. And, Lily, James, zis is _mon père_, _et oncle Orville_." He gestured to each of the men in turn, and then explained to his father and uncle, "Lily _et_ James _parlent français._"

"Ah! _Très excellent!_" remarked Harman. "Well, Lily _et_ James, I am glad zat Lysie has friends what speak _français_… Orville and I, we are ze brozzers… well, two of zem… of _son père_, Gerard."

Lily nodded; James smiled thinly.

Another very good-looking person was sweeping down the stairs, a woman this time. She had stylishly-cut, short black hair and sparkling blue eyes. She looked to be in her mid-thirties.

The woman crossed the floor and approached the table, smiling in a sad but resolute manner, the same expression all of Elysa's relatives had worn thus far.

"_Bonjour_ _Alix; Harman; Orville; Minerve_; _maman_," she said to everybody in turn. She gave Lily and James a slight smile before turning away, evidently unsure of who they were and what they were doing there.

"Ah! Serena!" said _oncle_ Orville pleasantly. "We are speaking _en_ _anglais_ now… deed Cerise awake you?"

The woman named Serena smiled slightly. "_Oui…_ I mean, _yes_. She ees done wiz her sending of ze… ze…"

"Owls," said Alix and _oncle _Harman together.

"_Owls_," continued Serena emphatically. "Cerise shall be joining us all soon." She turned to look at James and Lily. "_Et… _'oo are you two?"

"James _et_ Lily," said Alix promptly. "Zey are friends of Lysie… zey wanted to know 'ow she was."

Serena nodded. "_Bon_… well, I am thinking Cerise will probably be going to check on 'er soon…" She glanced at her watch.

"Oh… okay," said Lily, feeling quite tongue-tied. Somehow, the presence of all of these good-looking, collected people was causing her to feel less confident than usual.

"We need to go and eat breakfast, actually," James supplemented. "So… we'll see Lysie later, then?"

"Yes, yes," _oncle _Harman reassured him.

"Okay." James took Lily's hand and led her back toward the Gryffindor table.

-----

Sorry, I still haven't bothered to translate the French… if it really annoys you, mention it in a review and I'll get around to footnoting it or something.

Next chapter is almost done! Among things to be resolved: what will _tante_ Cerise do if she comes upon Sirius and Elysa… er, in their current state? Did Alixandre recognize the name Black? (I'll give you a hint: yes.) LOTS MORE COMING UP!

On that note, PLEASE REVIEW! It's really easy and it takes no time at all!

To my reviewers: thank you so much!


	16. Background and Corruption

FYI, like that earlier one, this chapter contains some definitively PG-13 action. You have been alerted.

Enjoy!

* * *

Sirius had just carried Elysa out of the bathroom. They were both wearing bathrobes now (those limestone walls were hard on the bare skin) and they felt exceptionally content.

"Put me down!" Elysa shrieked, as Sirius carried her to the window and pretended to heave her out.

He set her on her feet, and she glared at him reproachfully.

"Don't fret, dear; I would never _really_ toss you out of a window," Sirius said, rolling his eyes and shaking his head at Elysa's ignorance.

Elysa giggled, and kissed him. "Just making sure that was clear," she replied briskly. She kissed him again; she couldn't help it. Sirius wrapped his arms around her and swung her into a low dip, kissing her passionately. Elysa grinned through the kissing; again, she couldn't help it.

When Sirius had righted her again, she looked at him for a few moments and then leaned toward him, sniffing his chest. "You smell nice," she remarked.

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "Really? I haven't showered since yesterday morning... just, you know, 'For Your Information.'" He leaned toward her now and made a great show of smelling her. Elysa smiled.

"You smell good, too," Sirius confirmed. "You smell like… _me_."

Elysa looked up at him and smiled. "Well, I suppose it's only logical, considering what we just did…"

Sirius smiled slightly. He did not reply; he was lost in staring at her. Elysa, with her beautiful dark eyes and loose golden-brown curls and dimples… _his_ Elysa.

"_Hello_," Elysa murmured, snapping her fingers in front of Sirius's face. He shook his head vigorously and made a great show of coming back to the present.

"Uhhh… _what_? Did you… did you say something?"

Elysa laughed and smiled at him. "_C'est possible_."

Sirius smiled, too. "You're really, really pretty," he informed her.

She giggled. "So are you."

Sirius grinned. "Our children will be _so_ hot…"

Elysa laughed. "Lucky them."

Sirius kissed her, wrapped his arm around her waist, and led her back to his bed. They flopped down side by side. "Want a massage?" Sirius suggested casually.

Elysa giggled. "I would _love_ one." She peeled down her bathrobe and lay on her stomach while Sirius put his hands on her shoulders.

He was a very good masseuse; Elysa was impressed. "You're quite good at this; I'm impressed," she remarked. Then she groaned as he pushed down extra hard on one of her vertebrae.

"Thank you," Sirius replied cheerfully. "I _do_ do my best."

There was a gentle knock on the dormitory door. "Oh, joy," Elysa remarked, sitting up and stretching. She slid her arms back through the sleeves of James's bathrobe and pulled it up from her waist to its appropriate position.

"Who is it?" Sirius called briskly.

"Eet ees _tante_ Cerise… may I come in?"

Elysa felt herself flush slightly. Last night, she hadn't cared _what_ her relatives saw her do with Sirius, but now, after a full night's rest, she didn't want her sophisticated, elegant aunt sweeping in and realizing that her grieving niece had just finished having sex with her boyfriend.

Sirius glanced at Elysa's embarrassed face. Normally, he didn't mind embarrassing her; on the contrary, he found it very entertaining. Today, however, he wasn't about to do anything to cause her unrest.

"One moment!" Sirius called. "Elysa's in the bathroom and I'm… changing." He turned to Elysa and murmured, "Go get dressed."

She smiled slightly. "Likewise."

Sirius grinned and jumped off of the bed. He strode over to his dresser and rooted around for a shirt, which he then put on. Elysa picked her clothes from the night before off of the floor and dressed herself. Then she went over to the bathroom door and pushed it open loudly.

She turned around and hurried to the dormitory door, which she pulled open. "_Bonjour, tante Cerise_," she said pleasantly, giving her aunt a hug.

"_Bonjour, cher_…" Noticing Sirius over her niece's shoulder, _tante_ Cerise switched to English. "Good morning, Sirius," she added, nodding to him. Sirius was impressed that she remembered his name.

"Good morning," he replied, making his way across the room toward them.

"Well… I am glad to see zat you are up, Lysie… 'ow are you feeling?" _tante _Cerise asked Elysa gently, turning back to her.

Elysa sighed slightly, and frowned. She was suddenly feeling devastated again as the reality of being an orphan washed back over her. Spending the last hour with Sirius had been sufficient to cheer her up considerably; indeed, during that hour of sex and love and massages, she had managed to laugh and not feel guilty about being alive. Now, with her aunt's arrival and immediate display of concern and compassion, Elysa's grief had returned.

Also, though this was not as important, it felt very strange to speak to her aunt in English. Elysa rarely heard any of her relatives speak anything other then French, though nearly all of the family was multi-lingual. Indeed, the only times Elysa ever heard her cousins say things in the languages of their respective countries was when they swore. And _tante_ Cerise…

Elysa realized that this was probably the first time that she had ever spoken to her aunt in anything other than French. It was very disconcerting.

Elysa shook her head slightly and looked back at her aunt. "I'm… I'm…" she began. She could feel tears beginning to build up; _tante_ Cerise wore the same perfume as Elysa's mother. Elysa exhaled slowly and closed her eyes.

"Oh… it's all right, _cher_," her aunt murmured, holding her closer. "We'll go downstairs and eat breakfast wiz Alix and everyone else, _oui_?"

Elysa nodded into her aunt's shoulder, and then turned around to glance at Sirius. She wanted him with her, even if he wouldn't understand what everybody was talking about.

_Tante_ Cerise noticed where her niece was looking. "Ah… you come too, eh?" _tante _Cerise suggested to Sirius, who smiled slightly and nodded.

"Certainly," he agreed courteously. _Tante_ Cerise put her arm around Elysa and they headed back down the dormitory hallway, Sirius following behind.

In the corridor outside of the Gryffindor common room, _tante _Cerise turned to talk to Sirius, who was strolling along at his ease beside them, not uncomfortable in the least but still not entirely sure of what to say.

"Thank you for watching Lysie last night," _tante_ Cerise said to him, her arm still around Elysa's shoulders.

"Oh, sure, it was no trouble at all," Sirius replied quickly.

_Tante _Cerise smiled slightly. She liked the looks of this Sirius fellow – indeed, he was quite handsome – and he seemed to be friendly enough. Besides, Elysa was obviously enamored of him. _Tante _Cerise turned to smile fondly at her niece. _Tante _Cerise had never married, and she had no children, so she greatly cherished having so many nieces and nephews to fawn over.

She had twelve total – or, actually, it was only nine now, she reminded herself bitterly. There had been Elysa and her three younger siblings, and Alix and his sister, Anouck, who was currently in Portugal, and Orville and Austine's three children, who were in Paris with their mother, and Philippe with his son and daughter far away in America, and her only sister Arabella's son Cardell, who had had to flee back to France the night before. Plus, there were Cerise's cousins' children whom Cerise's nieces and nephews referred to as cousins, though technically they were second cousins. And then there were Cerise's cousins themselves, who were also called cousins by Cerise's nieces and nephews, even though they were first-cousins-once-removed. There were also all manner of other people of other ages, known as cousins by nearly everybody regardless of actual relation.

_Tante _Cerise had always felt lucky that she belonged to such a large, inclusive, interesting family. She had just finished sending out a fleet of owls to Fauchelevents all over the world, people whom she knew would drop what they were doing at a moment's notice to come to France (or England, for that matter) if need be.

Actually, she hadn't been able to make out a letter to every individual family unit, because that would have been about forty owls, if not more, but she had sent owls to the most influential members of the Fauchelevent family in each country. Thus, Philippe in America would be getting one, and Simone in the Swiss Alps, and about thirteen others in countries all over Europe and the world at large. _Tante_ Cerise trusted that they would pass the message on to the rest of the Fauchelevents in the region. She also looked forward to Philippe's arrival, because he was head of the American Ministry's Department of International Relations and was thus always immensely helpful to have on hand. (Besides, she hadn't seen him, her favorite older brother, since last summer.) And then Ari, over in Germany… Arabella was a squib, and she and her muggle husband Fritz had been living in Berlin for almost two years now, having initially moved from London due to his job. Cerise rarely saw Ari anymore; she and her husband seemed to feel slightly out of place at the summer reunions, seeing as neither of them could do magic. The two of them hardly saw Cordell, their only son, who was a wizard through and through, anymore either.

"_Cher_, what was your last name?" _tante _Cerise asked Sirius, all of her brief thoughts on family ties having made her curious. She was wondering if she knew his family. If so, she could contact them to express her appreciation over how he had helped her.

Sirius felt his stomach twitch uncomfortably; the last thing he wanted was for _tante_ Cerise to make some awful familial association about him. Elysa glanced over at him from her place on her aunt's other side. She knew exactly what he was thinking; what was worse, she was almost positive that her aunt knew who the Blacks were, as well as their legacy. _After all_, she reasoned correctly, tante_ Cerise knows everything._

"Er… Black," Sirius said, glancing at Elysa, who stared right back into his slightly-widened gray eyes, feeling very apprehensive.

"Black…" _tante _Cerise repeated slowly. Sirius felt that she was looking at him more closely now. He swallowed and looked into her eyes, which were dark like Elysa's.

"That's right," he affirmed.

_Tante_ Cerise did not change her demeanor, nor her expression. She merely nodded and changed the subject.

"Lysie, 'ow did you sleep last night?" she asked gently, turning away from Sirius and back to her niece.

Sirius felt vaguely relieved; _tante_ Cerise hadn'thad an instant reaction to his name. Elysa, however, knew otherwise. _Tante_ Cerise was behaving exactly like Elysa's father always had when he hadn't wanted to press matters further. Elysa opened her mouth to answer, and glanced back at Sirius, who was watching her and looking more relaxed.

Elysa felt terrible. She did not want Sirius to be wrongly stereotyped by her aunt, and she did not want him to be unaware of what was being done to him. She did not want him to be mixed up against his will in her family's goings on. She knew that Sirius's relatives were blatant supporters of Voldemort… _tante_ Cerise undoubtedly knew this, too.

A new thought crossed Elysa's mind: was it possible that some of Sirius's family members had killed hers? She shuddered slightly. She really, really hoped that this was not the case, not so much for herself – she could take the cruel irony; it was nowhere near as bad as the overall situation, anyway – but for Sirius's sake. Elysa knew that he would never be able to get over it if he thought that members of his family had assisted in the murder of members of hers.

That was the problem with Sirius: he put too much importance on loyalty in general, and so having a family to which he could _not_ be loyal caused him to be immensely loyal to his friends and thus feel too responsible when bad things happened to them. Elysa loved him for it, but she knew in her heart that some things were more important than loyalty… her life, for instance. Elysa would never betray one of her friends or loved ones, but she did not think that she could ever willingly give her life for somebody else's. (Not yet, anyway; she had never, for example, experienced parenthood.)

Yet she knew that Sirius would give his for her. It was a conflict of interests which Elysa hoped would never manifest itself.

Elysa also knew that she needed to explain Sirius's domestic situation to _tante _Cerise, but she could not do it right now because she was tired of speaking to her aunt in English and she was not about to start speaking French right in front of Sirius. Also, she needed to figure out the proper phrasing of her explanation, and she wanted Sirius's permission before she spewed his family history to a woman he had just met.

_Tante _Cerise seemed to take Elysa's loss of an answer as evidence of her sorrow, for she hugged her more closely as they came down the marble steps of the Great Hall, which was now empty of students with the exception of James and Lily.

The five other Fauchelevents currently seated at the teachers' table all noticed them at once. "_Ah!_" _oncle _Orville exclaimed, standing up and beckoning _tante _Cerise and Elysa toward them.

Sirius glanced over to where James and Lily were sitting at the Gryffindor table. "Lys, I'm going to go and talk to James and Lily," he informed her gently. "I'll see you in a bit."

Elysa nodded and smiled at him weakly. She did not want to make him sit through a long talk with her relatives, she reasoned. It was far fairer to let him go and talk to his friends.

Over at the teachers' table, Elysa and _tante_ Cerise were given seats and food; Elysa, however, did not feel particularly hungry. Her relatives were all treating her with such compassion, calling her "Ely" and stroking her back, that she was soon crying again. Then, while _tante _Cerise ate halfheartedly and discussed the message she had sent to the family with her two brothers, cousin, and aunt, Alix leaned on his elbow and talked to Elysa, who was sitting silently and wiping her eyes.

"Lysie, this is so fucking awful," Alix murmured in French.

Elysa smiled despite herself. Alix was one of her favorite cousins; he could always cheer her up with his dirty mouth.

Alix had grown up in Portugal, where his mother, Elysa's beautiful and multi-lingual _tante _Adriana, was from. Alix was only twenty-two, and he had been in Paris with _oncle _Harman after an interview with the French ministry when they had learned of the murder of Elysa's family.

Alix could swear a blue streak when he wanted to; many a childhood summer, Elysa had been warned by Anouck, Alix's older sister by three years, to stay away from him if she didn't want to be corrupted. Of course, this had only made Alix more appealing; Elysa and her American cousin Diana, who was older than she by six months, had spent many a youthful summer day following Alix around and learning glorious Portuguese and French curses.

"It fucking is," Elysa murmured back to him shakily, also in French. She sighed, and stared off across the Great Hall at an indiscernible spot on the wall. She shook her head and narrowed her eyes. "_Cabrão_," she muttered angrily.

"_Vai ao diabo que o carregue_," Alix replied, scowling at a spot in the air. He paused for a moment, and then added, "_E_ _vai se foder_."

Elysa smiled again through her tears. She rested her head on Alix's shoulder, and he put his arm around her and, still glaring at that spot in the air and shaking his head in disgust, whispered, "_Filho da puta_…" (A/N: see the bottom for a translation of those handy phrases.)

Then he turned and kissed her lovingly on the cheek.

Elysa shook her head and grinned. She had forgotten how much she adored her cousins. Perhaps she _could_ feel better after hanging out with her family…

She was still crying despite herself. Elysa wiped her eyes on a clump of Alix's sweater. Then she glanced across the room at Sirius, who appeared to be in deep conversation with James and Lily.

"Is that your lover, Lysie?" Alix whispered in French, unable to resist a smile.

Elysa smiled, too. Then she nodded.

"_Mais oui_."

Alix smiled a bit more. "Sirius Black?"

Elysa turned to look at him. "Yes. How do _you _know his name?" she demanded in French. (A/N: the rest of this conversation is taking place in French. For your sake I'm not going to actually type it in French, so instead just bear it in mind while you read.)

Alix shrugged. "Oh… a little bird told me."

Elysa rolled her tear-stained eyes. "Little bird my ass," she replied briskly.

Alix grinned. "Fine, your friends James and Lily told me. They were worried about you earlier and figured they'd interrogate us. I went ahead and introduced myself."

Elysa smiled again. "I see..." She paused, and then said quietly. "Alix… what do you know about the Blacks?"

Alix turned to look at her. Elysa looked so imploring, and so… anxious. He rubbed her arm platonically and said honestly, "A lot."

He saw Elysa's face crumple a tiny bit. She sighed. "How much is that?" she asked halfheartedly.

Alix shrugged. "Well… that they're quite dark, and quite purity-of-blood obsessed, and in general not especially pleasant to the less-elite among us."

Elysa looked at him intently. "How the hell do you know all of that? You never come to England. You never… you… you aren't even in a ministry yet. How do you…?" she trailed off, unsure of what to say.

Alix patted her arm. "Lysie, I've met Blacks before." He paused, thinking. Then he said, "Narcissa? Ring a bell? She's a cousin of his, I think… she went to Hogwarts, I know that much. Well, she came down France two summers ago with some boy… Lucas? Luke? Something like that… she didn't speak much French, though his was quite good… Anyway, Claude, Amalie and I went into Paris for a few days because Claude wanted to see his girlfriend and Amalie was in trouble for smoking in her and Corinne's bedroom and nearly burning down the place. Remember that?"

Elysa shook her head, amused by all of the things which went on inside the Fauchelevent villa of which she was not aware.

Alix smiled. "Oh… well, she managed to fix most of it up, except she couldn't get the sheets back to their original color; they ended up brown, not pink. But as you've no doubt heard, _Mémère _forbids us from lighting up in the villa. We're only supposed to do it on the terrace." He smiled again at the look on Elysa's face.

"Ah… and, _what_ is the point of this story?" she asked, amused as always by how enthusiastic and off-topic Alix became when asked to convey a tale.

He put on a great show of thinking. "Um… oh, right: so, that was why we went to Paris: Claude, for the girlfriend; Amalie, to be out of the house when _Mémère _figured out what had happened; and I, because they invited me along and I didn't have anything significantly better to do.

"Well, anyway, we took the train to Paris and we were at Amalie's family's flat, and Claude was off with his girlfriend, and so Amalie and I decided to go out clubbing in Ruelle Tordue."

Elysa smiled. Ruelle Tordue was the Paris equivalent of Diagon Alley, but with lots of nightclubs and a greater variety of shops. Wizards from all over the world came to Ruelle Tordue; it was a major tourist attraction. Elysa had been there herself countless times; the grungy shop through which it was accessed was mere blocks from _tante_ Cerise's apartment.

If Elysa's memory served correctly, Amalie's family's Paris flat (they also had a country home near Aix-en-Provence) was a bit farther along, but still within walking distance.

"So we got there and Amalie was introducing me to some of her friends, and at some point I headed over to the bar to get a drink and this girl came up to me…" Alix continued.

Elysa smiled slightly, because she knew exactly what happened whenever her cousins were seen together. Alone, each one was seen as just another unusually attractive person; in groups, however, they looked incredible. Cousin Amalie, who was technically Elysa's second cousin, had exceptionally-long, feathery dark brown curls, olive skin, and green eyes. She was truly gorgeous. And Alix… well, he looked like Elysa.

"…She was quite pretty," Alix was continuing, referring to the girl who had come up to him. "Blonde hair, blue eyes… sort of like Cassia," (Cassia was a cousin of theirs from Poland,) "but not quite as hot. She introduced herself and I figured she was from England; she had a pretty strong accent. Then we started talking in English mixed with French and I told her my name, and then she was completely in awe for a moment and said, 'Oh! I've heard of your family!' or something akin… then she told me her name was Narcissa Black, and that boy she was with was Lucas or whatever it was, and he was _just a friend_.

"Well, we were chatting for a bit and I figured he probably was more than just her friend; he was looking at me sort of annoyed. Then he came up and said, 'Excuse me… may I ask what you are doing talking to my girlfriend?' I remember he spoke very good French. I said, 'Well, I didn't _know_ she was your girlfriend…' and Narcissa said, 'Oh, Lucas,'–or whatever his name was–'we were just talking; good grief.' Then Amalie came up with some of her friends and the Lucas kid sort of stared at her for a few moments because, let's face it, she's beautiful. And so I figured I'd play it up, so I put my arm around her, and she kissed me and whispered accusingly, 'Hitting on the tourists, are we, _cher_?'"

Elysa giggled out loud. "Incest is illegal, pervert," she remarked. Alix smirked. Elysa was ridiculously refined compared to some of the other cousins. (A/N: get your mind out of the gutter!) In fact, up until this last summer, she had almost been a prude. But Alix and Claude and Amalie and most of the others had always had great fun going clubbing in Criel sur mer or wherever else, drinking shots and pretending to be dating one another whenever they received too much attention from the opposite sex.

Hell, one time Cassia, who had white-blonde hair, long, feathery bangs, incredible blue eyes, far too ample a bosom, and always procured a perfect tan after about two hours on the Côte d'Azur, had nearly gotten herself raped by some over-eager bastard from Avignon. It was only when Alix went out into the alley behind the club, flexed his perfectly-toned muscles threateningly, shoved the fellow against the wall, and said, "What the fuck are you doing to my girlfriend!" that the guy realized he was in over his head. Cassia, who was stone-drunk at the time, kissed Alix messily on the lips and gave the guy from Avignon the finger. The man was quite angry, seeing as he had just spent the better part of the evening getting Cassia intoxicated in order to make his move, and for the rest of the night he kept giving Alix dangerous looks from across the room. Of course, Alix didn't care; he had a group of about fifteen cousins, at least six of whom were tall, strong, very good-looking males, to watch his back.

Elysa had largely missed out on this side of the summers in France. Alix had been sneaking out with Claude (with whom he shared a room at the villa) since they had been about twelve. Hell, it had taken Elysa until she had turned fifteen just to get drunk, something Alix had done at least every week since his thirteenth (or was it twelfth?) birthday!

Yes, he was a bad boy. They all were. They were all too attractive for their own good and ridiculously spoiled by the freedom they received in the immense villa. They had only to summon one of the many house-elves in order to get whatever they wanted; they had only to stroll down the beach to get laid.

Elysa was different, though not by much. Most of them had become intoxicated by their incredible situation by about the age of fourteen; however, Elysa (and Nathalie, for that matter) had taken a bit longer. It wasn't until Elysa had come that last summer, Alix realized, tired of being nobody, finally interested in trying new things, that she had really opened up. Alix knew that Elysa and Diana had been into some pretty kinky shit that summer… something about baiting attractive muggles… he smiled to himself. He had done that, many times, with Claude and the others.

"Hello?" Elysa demanded, snapping her fingers in front of Alix's smirking face. "What are you thinking about?"

Alix smiled more broadly. "Oh, just how innocent you are."

Elysa raised her eyebrows in disbelief. "Oh, I'm not as innocent as you might think," she replied coolly. On second thought, Elysa considered that Alix was probably one of the least-innocent people she knew… actually, he reminded her of Sirius on some levels. His definition of innocence was probably different from hers.

Alix smiled again. "Well…" he glanced over at the relatives, who were still discussing the situation, then across the room at Sirius Black, and then back at his cousin. "Look here, let's discuss this later, shall we? I'd love to hear the details… but did you want to hear my Narcissa Black story, or not?"

Elysa blushed slightly, smiled, and nodded. "No, continue. So what happened? Did you and Amalie start snogging, or something?"

Alix laughed gently. "No, no, young Elysa… we would never 'snog,' as you put it. We are far too refined…"

Elysa snorted. Alix smiled innocently and continued, "Anyway, Lucas or whatever eventually dragged Narcissa off to go and dance or something. Amalie and I were discussing it. I told her about how Narcissa was interested in our surname, and all of that. Amalie was like, 'Who isn't?' Then she went off to dance some more with some guys, and Narcissa came back over to me. We had a very curious conversation. First she asked about my 'girlfriend' and I admitted that she wasn't really my girlfriend; she was my cousin. I explained the whole 'summer reunion' thing. Narcissa was totally agreeing with me the whole time and she said, 'Oh, I know… it's great to spend time with so many pure-bloods, isn't it?' I said, 'Come again?' and she said, 'Well, it's just that normally there are so many _mudbloods _around.' I didn't know what 'mudbloods' meant, because she said it in English. So she explained, 'Like people with muggles for parents. And even half-bloods… I don't know, there's something about being around pure-bloods that just feels… _right_.'

"I was feeling very confused by this point. Then she started coming on to me, saying, 'Like being with you… it just feels _right_,' and all of that. I asked her if her boyfriend was a pureblood; I figured it might get her to stop hitting on me. She said right away, 'Oh, of course! He's a _Malfoi_.' (Or something like that; I don't remember.) And I said, 'Not a very fortunate name, is it?' Because, you know, '_bad-faith…_'"

"I know, I speak French, remember?" Elysa said, saying each word very slowly and clearly. (Because she was speaking in French… or had you forgotten?)

Alix rolled his eyes and continued, "She wasn't too amused. I don't think she quite understood me. But whatever; then I suavely changed the subject and said, 'Well, some of my relatives aren't purebloods… like Amalie; she's not.' And Narcissa sort of stared at me and said, 'Are you kidding?' and I said, 'Um… no?' and she sort of looked at me all funny. I explained, 'Her dad's the Fauchelevent and her mum is muggle-born. They met at Beauxbatons.'

"Narcissa kept looking at me disbelievingly. 'Well, I guess, technically, if they both went to Beauxbatons…' she started. Then she said, 'I meant like actually marrying a muggle.'

"I said, 'Well, there're some of those too… like my cousin Marine, she lives in Algiers, her mum's a muggle.'

"Narcissa looked completely blown away. She said, 'And your family doesn't, like, disown them?'

"I laughed and said, 'No; why would we do that? They're still Fauchelevents, aren't they?'

"Narcissa looked right perplexed. Then she said, 'My older sister married a muggle and the family disinherited her… As well they should, I say. The stupid fool shouldn't have bothered meeting muggles in the first place...'

"I didn't really want to get into an argument over this at the moment, so I sort of nodded. She said, 'Don't you just think that… well, you're a Fauchelevent, aren't you? Don't you just think that that makes you… _special_?'"

Elysa was looking at Alix intently. By the sound of it, this was exactly the mindset that Sirius found insufferable about his family.

"Sirius–" she began, but then stopped. She needed to talk to him before she told people his personal history.

Alix waited for a moment to hear what she had to say, but then decided to carry on when Elysa showed no signs of finishing her sentence. "Anyway, it went on for awhile, and the moral is that Blacks are elitist, pureblood-obsessed, and have an affinity for the Dark Arts. However, they are still quite attractive."

Elysa smiled and glanced across the room at Sirius, who had just swept his hair out of his eyes as he turned to talk to James across the table again. She smiled more broadly; she loved it when he did that.

Elysa turned back to Alix, gave him a swift peck on the lips, and said, "Excuse me; I need to go talk to my lover now."

Alix winked at her and turned back to his other relatives as Elysa made her way across the Great Hall toward the Gryffindor table.

-----

Ah, yes, and all that Portuguese…

_Cabrão - _"bastard"

_Vai ao diabo que o carregue_ - "go to the devil who will take you away" (it's sort of a euphemism for "burn in hell," or whatever)

_Vai se foder_ -"Go fuck yourself"

_Filho da puta -_"son of a bitch"


End file.
